The Rise of Night
by MariaClaire
Summary: Almost five months after Gaea was defeated, the demigods thought they were safe. But now monster attacks are increasing and a new threat is on the horizon. The former crew of the Argo II must come together again for a new quest-or risk losing everything they fought so hard to save.
1. Prologue

*****This story takes place about four months after the end of** _ **Blood of Olympus.**_ **Next chapters will be up soon (and will be much longer than the Prologue). Hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: All characters, weapons, and creatures belong to Rick Riordan; I'm just borrowing them and making their lives difficult.*****

* * *

 **Prologue: Friday, December 16**

 _ **Five days until**_ _ **December 21**_ _ **st**_ _ **, the winter solstice.**_

 _"The winter solstice…is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong._ _ **Ancient**_ _magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things…stir."_

 _—Chiron,_ _The Lost Hero_ , _pg. 126_

* * *

Percy Jackson was in trouble. Like world-about-to-end trouble. It was an experience he'd had way too often.

He sprinted down the street, slipping a little in the new-fallen snow, the first of the season. He cursed as he spotted the clock on a nearby building. He had to get to Annabeth in time. If he was late—no, don't think about it. He had to make it.

Percy whipped around the final corner. Relief flooded him as he saw Annabeth standing halfway down the block at the bottom of the steps that led to her dorm, wearing a coat, scarf, and woolly hat. She smirked as he ran up to her and doubled over, gasping for breath.

"Forget something?" She held out a neatly stapled stack of papers.

"You're the best," Percy wheezed. Running in the cold made his lungs burn almost as bad as the sulfurous air of Tartarus. _Nope, stop, not thinking about last night's nightmare._ Taking a deep breath, Percy straightened up. He took his paper from Annabeth's hand and pulled his girlfriend in for a kiss. Her lips were warm, a nice contrast to the icy wind on his cheeks.

"I tweaked your conclusion and fixed a couple of grammar issues," Annabeth said when she pulled away. "If you don't get at least a B, I'm going to have a talk with your teacher."

"Well, it's Paul, so you can discuss it at dinner tonight," Percy said. "You're still coming over, right?"

"Of course." Annabeth kissed him again, lightly, then gave him a small push. "Now get out of here or you're going to be late. And next time, don't forget your term paper at my dorm when it's worth twenty percent of your grade!"

"Thirty percent," Percy called over his shoulder, already jogging back down the street. "I owe you one!"

"Yeah, you do!"

"Dinner next week! Someplace nice, I promise!"

Percy gave a final wave and took off sprinting again, determined to make it to Goode High School in time for first period English.


	2. Chapter I: Annabeth

**I. ANNABETH**

Annabeth shook her head, still smiling as her ridiculous boyfriend disappeared around the corner. She supposed it was partly her fault he'd forgotten his paper, though she would never admit that to him. But they'd gotten a little distracted as he was leaving and then Piper had walked in. After that, Percy had been in a hurry to leave, and he'd left his finished paper sitting on Annabeth's desk.

"Did he make it in time?" Piper asked, coming down the stairs.

"Yep," Annabeth said. She glanced sideways at Piper as they started walking down the street to their school. "You know, next time you could knock. Then Percy wouldn't have to get all embarrassed and forget his homework."

"Or next time you guys could not make out until he's put his homework away," Piper replied, suppressing a grin.

"Oh, shut up."

Piper just laughed.

Annabeth and Piper had been hanging out a lot since September, when Piper's dad had enrolled her in the same Manhattan boarding school Annabeth attended. Annabeth had to admit it was nice to have a friend at school from whom she didn't have to hide demigod business. The only other time she'd had that was the semester Thalia and she had been roommates, after the Golden Fleece brought Thalia back to life.

But even as she thought that, Annabeth knew she wasn't going to tell Piper, or anyone else, maybe not even Percy, about the dream she'd had last night. It was too terrifying.

"See you at lunch!" Piper waved as she headed off to her first period geometry class. Annabeth returned the wave before climbing the stairs to the second floor, where her Calculus class was held.

Annabeth tried to focus as Ms. Roswell demonstrated several integral problems on the board, but her mind kept slipping back to her dream. Every time she thought of it, she felt like her lungs were collapsing, fear sucking all the air out of her.

The dream had begun in pitch blackness, darker than the deepest, most sunless ocean trench. A chill settled over Annabeth; she knew where she was—the edge of Chaos, looking out at the void of Night. She'd had dreams about Tartarus before, too often, since she and Percy had come back from the pit in July. But this felt different. It wasn't a memory; this was new. She had a feeling it was happening now.

"The hour approaches, my lady," a female voice said. Annabeth didn't recognize the speaker, but the voice was frosty and brittle, the way an icicle would sound if it could speak.

"The enemies of the Seven have risen," said a deeper male voice, just as cold as the female's. "And we have others searching for the demigods, with orders to capture, not kill, of course. The bounties are proving to be a useful tool. Soon, you will have your revenge." There was something familiar about the male voice, but before Annabeth could place it, two spots of light burst into being in front of her. Annabeth's insides froze as she recognized the quasar pulses that were the eyes of Nyx, primordial goddess of Night.

"Yes." Nyx cracked her whip and a flash of stars broke briefly through the eternal darkness. "You two will go into the upper world and prepare. Then, when the time is right, we will crush those _worthless tourist demigods_." Those quasar eyes locked on Annabeth, as if Nyx knew she was standing there. "And you, Annabeth Chase. My wrath will fall most heavily on you." Nyx cackled and suddenly the ground disappeared beneath Annabeth's feet. She screamed as she was flung into the void of Chaos, her body and soul ripping apart and dissolving in the ether.

Annabeth had sat straight up in bed, gasping for breath and covered in a cold sweat. She hadn't been able to go back to sleep.

Now, she forced herself to focus as Ms. Roswell went over the final review before passing out the exam. But her fingers were still trembling as she remembered the crazed gleam of Nyx's eyes as the goddess had promised to crush Annabeth and her friends. It wasn't the first time she'd heard that threat, but that didn't make it any less terrifying. The comments from the invisible male speaker about the bounties and risen enemies were also hard to forget. It was almost a relief when Ms. Roswell passed out the exam, since Calculus took all of Annabeth's attention, leaving no room for dark thoughts about dark gods.

* * *

Annabeth managed to put the dream out of her mind until seventh period English class. It was the final day of exams and class parties before Christmas break, so she was able to stay pretty distracted all day. She probably would have been able to keep from thinking about the dream the entire day, but her English teacher, Mr. Burke, chose to read them a poem that for some reason hit Annabeth like a punch to the gut.

"This is 'Do not go gentle into that good night' by Dylan Thomas," Mr. Burke said in his dry, reedy voice. He cleared his throat and began to read. Annabeth grew increasingly edgy as the poem went on.

 _Though wise men at their end know dark is right,_

 _Because their words had forked no lightning they_

 _Do not go gentle into that good night._

 _Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright_

 _Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,_

 _Rage, rage against the dying of the light._

 _Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,_

 _And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,_

 _Do not go gentle into that good night._

Annabeth listened, stomach churning. The words of the poem, coupled with her nightmare, were giving her an awful sense of foreboding.

 _And you, my father, there on the sad height,_

 _Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray._

 _Do not go gentle into that good night._

 _Rage, rage against the dying of the light._

As Mr. Burke finished reading and set the poem down, Annabeth gripped the edge of her desk. A chill crept down the back of her neck, like icy fingers were tightening around her throat.

* * *

That evening, Annabeth took the subway to the Upper East Side, but she got distracted thinking about her dream, particularly the suffocating darkness and the awful feeling of her soul dissolving into Chaos, and she got off a stop too early. Since it would take longer to wait for the next train than it would to just walk, Annabeth headed for the street.

Snow was falling again, big, fluffy white flakes that would have been pretty if they didn't remind Annabeth of the cold voices in the dream. The thickly falling snow combined with the early winter darkness made it hard to see as she hurried up the street. She was only a couple of blocks from Percy's building when she ran headlong into something as heavy and solid as a wall.

Annabeth would have fallen over, but a massive hand encircled her upper arm, jerking her back onto her feet. She looked up and her stomach dissolved.

It was a Cyclops.

Even after all this time, Annabeth was still terrified of Cyclopes. She loved Tyson, Percy's brother (he was a total sweetheart), but she could tell immediately that this Cyclops was nothing like Tyson. His single eye was bloodshot, he was wearing a necklace of what looked horribly like human bones, and he was grinning in a way that suggested Annabeth was about to be his dinner.

She had barely begun to plan a counterattack, though, when something moved in the shadows. Two more figures stepped out of a nearby alley. The first was another Cyclops. But the second made Annabeth's blood run cold.

"Annabeth! How awesome! I was _totally_ hoping I would be the one to catch you."

Kelli.

The _empousa_ was still wearing her tattered cheerleader's uniform, which looked even worse than it had the last time Annabeth had seen Kelli. The _empousa_ had tried to kill her in Tartarus and been stomped into the ground by Bob, the friendly Titan.

"Drag her into the alley," Kelli ordered the Cyclopes. The second one grabbed Annabeth's other arm. They pulled her into a dark, deserted alley. At that point, Annabeth's survival instincts finally kicked in and she began to struggle, thrashing around and trying to break free. But the Cyclopes' grips were like iron. She didn't stand a chance. They marched her about halfway down the alley, then turned to face Kelli again.

"So." The _empousa_ had a sickly grin on her bone-white face. She clopped down the alley, her metal and hoofed legs making _clack-thump_ sounds with every step. "You made it out of Tartarus. I have to admit, I figured you would die down there."

Annabeth just glared at her. Her mind was frantically trying to come up with a plan to get out of this, but so far she had nothing. With the Cyclopes holding her arms, there was no way for her to reach her sword. And Kelli, she remembered, didn't care much for chit-chat.

 _Clack-thump. Clack-thump._

Kelli bent down until she was inches away from Annabeth's face. Her breath smelled like blood. "I would _so_ love to kill you. Slowly, so I could hear you scream."

"What's stopping you?" Annabeth spat.

"The Dark Lady would be furious." A flicker of fear crossed Kelli's face. The next moment, her haughty sneer was back in place. "She, like, totally wants to kill you herself. She _hates_ you, Annabeth Chase."

Fear threatened to choke her, but Annabeth forced herself to look bored. "The Dark Lady? Should I know who that is?"

Kelli's eyes were like burning coals. "You're supposed to be _so_ smart. The daughter of Athena. Figure it out."

She already had. That was the terrifying part.

"Anyway, the Dark Lady has plans for you. She's going to make you suffer. Maybe she'll even give me, like, a chance to torture you."

"Yeah, I'm going to pass on that," Annabeth said. "If you're not going to kill me, why are you here?"

"To send a message," Kelli told her. Snowflakes drifted down around them, hissing as they dissolved in the _empousa's_ flaming hair. "You demigods have _no_ idea what's about to happen. The Dark Lady planned it that way. The future is totally D-A-R-K, dark!"

A horrible suspicion grew in Annabeth's mind. She was beginning to understand what was going on, but it was like putting together a puzzle when you'd lost half the pieces. There were too many holes to see the picture clearly. "Is that your message?"

"Nope. This is." Kelli's gaze traveled over Annabeth in a way that made her skin crawl. "Break her arm."

"Wait, what?" Annabeth said.

The Cyclops who had originally caught her grinned, showing blackened teeth. He twisted her left arm and Annabeth screamed. There was a sickening crack. Red-hot pain shot up and down her arm. Black spots danced in front of her eyes.

 _Don't you dare pass out_ , she ordered herself.

The Cyclopes laughed as they let her go. Annabeth clutched her broken arm. Pain was making her head swim, but she shot Kelli a defiant glare. "You're going to have to do better than that."

The _empousa_ cackled. "Oh, don't worry. The Dark Lady and the cold ones have big plans for you and your friends, Annabeth Chase. This was just a taste. There is _so_ much more pain in your future. Which reminds me…"

Kelli's hand lashed out. Her talons scraped across Annabeth's cheek. The cuts burned and she felt the warm rush of blood on her face.

"Not quite as painful as being _stabbed in the back_ ," Kelli growled, "but that will have to wait until we drag you back to Tartarus. 'Bye, Annabeth. It's been fun."

The _empousa_ put her hands on her Cyclopes assistants. The three of them burst into flames and disappeared, leaving Annabeth alone in the ice cold alley. She was freezing, dizzy from pain, and quickly becoming disoriented.

 _Two blocks_ , she thought. _Percy is two blocks away. I can make it._

She limped out of the alley (because of course her stupid ankle would choose this moment to act up). The street was nearly deserted; the snowstorm was fast becoming a blizzard. The temperature dropped rapidly. Annabeth's teeth chattered. Her broken arm was radiating pain throughout her entire body. Her cheek stung and she could feel blood dripping down her neck.

Spots danced across her vision, but she made it to Percy's building. She was grateful not to run into anyone in the lobby; they probably would have called the police. Annabeth stumbled into the elevator, pressed the button for the fifth floor, and spent the next minute willing herself not to pass out.

 _Ding._

She dragged herself out of the elevator and down the hall to the Jackson-Blofis residence. Her vision was starting to tunnel as she knocked on the door.

Percy opened the door with a grin, but his expression quickly turned to shock, then outrage.

"Annabeth, what—"

Her knees buckled and everything went dark.

* * *

She woke up lying on a couch with a very worried pair of sea-green eyes hovering over her.

"Thank the gods," Percy said when he saw that she was awake. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible." Annabeth pulled herself up into a sitting position, but gasped as pain lanced down her left arm.

"Careful, it's still healing." Percy was kneeling next to the sofa. "I gave you some ambrosia and put nectar on those cuts. They're almost healed."

Annabeth felt her cheek. The cuts were nearly gone; she probably wouldn't even have a scar, thank the gods. Her arm was still throbbing, but now that her injuries were under control, anger was starting to take over.

"What happened?" Percy asked.

"Kelli. Kelli happened," Annabeth said furiously.

Percy's eyes widened. "Kelli? The _empousa_? _She_ did this to you?"

"Her and a couple of Cyclopes." Tears pricked the corners of Annabeth's eyes, though she wasn't sure if they were caused by anger, pain, or the humiliation of being used by the monsters. "She—she said they wanted to send a message. Then she told the Cyclops to break my arm."

Anger settled over Percy's expression. "She broke your arm to send a message? That's sick."

"I know." Annabeth took a shaky breath. "But that's not all. Last night, I had a nightmare. Combined with some things Kelli said, I think we may have a problem."

"I hate problems."

"Me too." She met his eyes. "We need to call our friends."

"Which ones?" Percy's brow wrinkled in the cute way it did when he was worried, momentarily distracting her.

She took another breath. "Our friends from the _Argo II_. If I'm right, they're all in danger."

* * *

 *****Next chapter will be up in a couple days. Hope you are enjoying reading this so far! I know the Nyx thing has been done before, but I've had the idea for this story for a while, so I decided to go ahead and post it. Because after the end of** _ **Heroes of Olympus**_ **, it seems like the demigods probably still had some enemies out for their blood.*****


	3. Chapter II: Frank

*****Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites! Next chapter will be up in a couple of days. Hope you enjoy this one!*****

* * *

 **II. FRANK**

Frank was having a good day, right up until the cannibals attacked. He and Hazel spent the morning at the Alameda Boat Docks. They were looking into rebuilding the Roman navy, since the two of them, along with Percy, had sunk the entire fleet last summer. To be fair, the previous fleet had only consisted of one very decrepit rowboat. Frank and Reyna had decided that it was time to make some changes in the legion, and building up a strong navy seemed like a good start.

"That went well," Hazel observed as they walked along the docks, heading back to the park where Arion was waiting for them. "We got a really good deal on the speedboats."

"I think so," Frank said. "Hopefully, Reyna approves."

They'd met with several legion veterans who were involved in shipping and boat sales, and the veterans had been eager to give them discounts. Apparently, about a decade ago at Camp Jupiter there had been a push to build up the Roman navy, but it had been shot down by the Senate. Now that the legion was looking into the project again, the veterans were thrilled to help.

"I'm sure Reyna will be happy." Hazel took Frank's hand and smiled. "Especially when she sees that yacht."

Frank grinned. The yacht hadn't been purely necessary (it really had no tactical use), but one of the former legionnaires, upon learning that Frank was a praetor, had thrown it in as a bonus after they'd agreed to purchase three dozen speedboats. "Yeah, that yacht is pretty sweet."

His stomach rumbled. Frank was about to suggest that they get something to eat before heading back to camp, when Hazel suddenly froze.

"What's wrong?" Frank asked.

Hazel's golden eyes narrowed. "Mist. Something nearby is using the Mist to disguise itself."

Frank's hand immediately went to his bow. Hazel drew her sword. And several hulking figures jumped down from a fishing boat, blocking any escape routes. Within seconds, Frank and Hazel were surrounded.

The monsters were about eight feet tall, with dark red skin covered in tattoos. Their leering grins were eerily familiar, but it took Frank a moment to process where he'd seen them before.

"Laistrygonians," Hazel hissed.

An image clicked into place in Frank's mind. His grandmother's house, surrounded by cannibal ogres. Possibly even _these_ cannibal ogres. One was still wearing a "Kiss the Cook" apron.

"You guys again," he grumbled.

The ogre in the apron grinned. "Yes, Frank Zhang. But today we're here to capture you, not cook you. Our mistress needs you alive. She will reward us greatly for delivering the two of you."

"We're not going anywhere," Hazel said.

The ogre just laughed. "We'll see about that, Hazel Levesque." He glanced around at his buddies. "Grab them!"

The ogres lunged and chaos broke out. Hazel disintegrated two almost immediately and the rest warily took a step back from her. Three went after Frank, who cursed and swung his bow back over his shoulder; it wouldn't work well in such close quarters. He transformed into a lion. Within seconds, the three cannibals who'd come after him were dust.

Then he heard a shriek of pain.

He whipped around to see that the "Kiss the Cook" ogre had grabbed Hazel by her hair and was trying to drag her onto the fishing boat. Hazel swung her sword, but the ogre dodged it while another giant caught her wrist and wrested the sword out of her hand.

Frank charged to help her, but two more giants intercepted him. These ones were armed with spears. A third came up, grinning, with a fiery cannonball in his hand. Frank snarled, still in lion form. The ogre threw the cannonball at him. Frank dodged out of the way, but the explosion singed his fur.

 _Not cool_ , he thought.

He pounced and knocked the cannonball-throwing ogre to the ground. One swipe with his massive paw and the ogre was dust.

Then a spear pierced Frank's shoulder.

Frank roared in pain. He threw himself at the Laistrygonian who'd stabbed him and bit down on the ogre's throat. It tasted disgusting, but that was one more giant down.

The second spear-wielding ogre backed up the ramp of the fishing boat, away from Frank, who turned back into a human. His arm was bleeding badly. But his biggest concern was that he could no longer see Hazel and the other giants, though he could hear the struggle.

He couldn't reach his bow because of his injured arm. However, Hazel's sword was lying near the ramp, where the monster had made her drop it. Frank picked it up. He fixed his eyes on the ogre with the spear and tried for the most threatening look he could manage.

"Time to go back to Tartarus," he growled.

The spear-wielding ogre laughed. "No, Frank Zhang, it is you who will be going to Tartarus, right after we collect the bounties from the Dark Lady. You and your pathetic friends will be punished for what you did to the Earth Mother!" He stabbed at Frank, who dodged the thrust, stepped forward, and sliced the spear in half. The ogre stopped laughing. Frank sliced the sword across the monster's gut and the ogre exploded into dust.

Just as Frank reached the deck of the fishing boat, there was a loud, horrible _crack_.

Hazel screamed.

In front of Frank, the two Laistrygonians were still trying to restrain Hazel, but now her right leg was bent at a sickening angle.

Frank's vision turned red. His body grew heavier and thicker until he was a full grown bull. He bellowed and charged forward. Taking care to avoid Hazel, he gored the final two cannibals, his horns drilling neat holes right through the O's in "Kiss the Cook."

The instant the ogres were gone, Frank changed back to human and dropped to his knees beside Hazel. "Oh, gods. Here," he fumbled a square of ambrosia out of his pocket, "eat this."

Hazel's breathing was shallow and there were tears in her eyes from the pain, but she broke the ambrosia square in half and handed part of it to Frank. "You need this, too."

Frank tried to refuse the square, protesting, "I'm fine."

"Frank, you're covered in blood."

He looked down at his shirt to see that it was true. Blood from his shoulder wound was soaking his purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt, turning it a very ugly color. "Okay, maybe we can share."

While they ate their ambrosia, Frank told Hazel what the Laistrygonian had said, about collecting the bounties and punishing them for what happened to Gaea.

Hazel winced as she tried to sit up straighter. "The one in the apron said something similar." Lines of pain were etched in her face, but her gaze was still fierce as she looked up at Frank. "We need to warn the others."

Frank nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

If monsters had come after Frank and Hazel for revenge, there was a good chance they'd go after the rest of the crew from the _Argo II_. Their friends needed to be on guard. And Frank hadn't liked the way the ogres talked about capturing, not killing, the demigods. That didn't seem like a good sign.

"But first," Frank said, "we need to get back to camp."

"Already working on it." Hazel managed a weak smile as Arion came racing onto the deck.

As he helped Hazel onto Arion, taking care not to jar her broken leg, Frank had a feeling that this was only the beginning. A horrible sense of foreboding came over him. He forced it away as he climbed onto Arion's back behind Hazel. But Frank was very grateful when they reached Camp Jupiter, protected once again by the camp's magical, monster-repelling boundaries.

Reyna was waiting for them outside the _principia_. The praetor had the world's greatest poker face, but Frank had been working with her closely enough over the past four months to recognize the tight set of her mouth. Something was wrong.

Reyna's dark eyes swept over them, taking in Frank's blood-soaked shirt and the way Hazel winced as she climbed down from the saddle. "What happened?"

"The good news is, we got the speedboats. And a yacht," Frank said. "Bad news: we ran into some Laistrygonians at the docks."

"Laistrygonians?" Reyna's brows knit. "What did they want?"

"Apparently to capture us and punish us for what happened to Gaea," Hazel said. Arion nickered softly and she patted his neck. "Go on and get dinner. I'll call if we need a ride."

The horse whinnied, then shot off faster than Frank could follow, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake.

"Northern cannibals want to punish you for Gaea's defeat?" Reyna's lips set in a hard line. "Well, that fits."

Frank was startled by her reaction. "Does it?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Annabeth sent me an Iris-message before you guys got back. She was attacked this evening, too, by an _empousa_ and a couple of Cyclopes."

Frank and Hazel exchanged looks, then Hazel asked, "Is she alright?"

Reyna nodded. "But apparently these monsters gave her some kind of message. And it's also not good news."

"What is it?" Frank asked.

"She didn't want to discuss it over Iris-message. I think she was afraid something might overhear," Reyna said. "But she asked me to pass on a message to you two, asking if you could come to New York as soon as possible."

* * *

It didn't take long to make plans. Hazel called Annabeth, then Piper, and within an hour, Hazel and Frank were booked on the first flight from San Francisco to New York in the morning. Frank was a little nervous about flying, but it beat riding Arion cross-country, although Hazel suggested her horse could meet them at JFK airport and they could avoid the traffic that way.

Frank was in his house (the praetor's house, formerly Jason's, but now Frank's), getting packed, when there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find an unexpected pair of people on his doorstep.

"Hi, sorry to bother you, but we just discovered something really important and we thought you ought to know before you head to New York," Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the Greek oracle, said breathlessly and very fast.

"Top Five things to do in New York City: visit the Statue of Liberty; visit the Empire State Building; visit Central Park; see a Broadway play; see the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Ella, Frank's harpy friend, swooped in behind Rachel and landed on the arm of Frank's couch. She perched there, grooming her feathers, as she added, "Fighting monsters is not one of the Top Five things to do in New York City."

"Uh, yeah, thanks, Ella," Frank said. "Um, Rachel, do you want to come in?"

"No, that's okay," Rachel said. "We can't stay long. I'm helping at the New Rome modern art exhibit tonight."

"I didn't know we had one of those."

"It's new. I helped organize it. Anyway," Rachel took a deep breath, "so you know how Ella and I have been working since August trying to piece together prophecies from what she remembers of the Sibylline Books?"

"Yeah." Frank's stomach was suddenly twisting in knots; he didn't think he was going to like where this conversation ended.

"Well, we think we may have figured out a prophecy." Rachel bit her lip. "And we think it applies to you."

"To me?" Frank asked. His voice came out a little higher than he intended.

"Not just you," Rachel corrected herself, "but you as one of the demigods from the Prophecy of Seven. We think we found a prophecy that applies to all of you—Hazel, you, Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, and Leo."

Several choice curse words sprang into Frank's head. He hated prophecies. But all he said was, "Okay. What's the prophecy?"

Rachel turned to Ella. "Would you mind reciting it?"

Ella fluffed her feathers, then looked Frank dead in the eye and recited:

" _Seven heroes' vanquished foes,_

 _Rise to avenge the earth mother's woes._

 _Blood secures the rise of night,_

 _Serpent and goddess shall unite._

 _The son of the elder god will fall,_

 _Spirit returned to the sun god's call."_

As Ella finished the prophecy, a cold chill slowly worked its way down Frank's spine. "I really hate prophecies."


	4. Chapter III: Leo

*****Happy August first, the Feast of Spes! In honor of the anniversary of the battle with Gaea, I'm posting a new chapter, this one from Leo's point-of-view. This chapter is a little bit of a monster, but there was a lot of info I needed to cover. Also, I just enjoy writing in Leo's POV. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Quick note: For the purposes of this story, Leo and Calypso arrived back in New York sometime in October. For the full story on how his return might have gone down, check out my short story, "Aphrodite's Hairbrush." Actually, that story does set this one up in some ways and the events are briefly referenced in this chapter. You don't have to read "Aphrodite's Hairbrush" to understand this story, but it's out there if you want to check it out!*****

* * *

 **III. LEO**

Leo had the music turned up so loud in Bunker Nine it would have drowned out a nuclear blast. He definitely didn't hear Calypso walk in, which was why he jumped a foot in the air when she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Gorgon's grommets, girl! You can't sneak up on me like that! I almost bashed you with a hammer."

Calypso cupped her hand around her ear. "WHAT?"

"I said—," Leo fumbled for the stereo remote and turned the music down, "I almost bashed you with a hammer."

"But you're holding a screwdriver."

"Not the point." Leo blinked. Calypso looked really good in her red shirt and jeans, but that was also not the point. He turned back to his workbench, where he was trying to put the finishing touches on a Celestial bronze sphere. Leo glanced over his shoulder at his girlfriend. "Did you need something?"

"I just wanted to see what you were up to." Calypso strolled over to where Festus was curled up on his personal pedestal. She scratched him behind the ears and the dragon's back leg wiggled like a dog's. "You've been in here all day. What are you working on?"

Leo didn't answer immediately. He was focused on securing a final panel to the grapefruit-sized sphere. "Ha! Got it. Now I just need a satyr, or a Cyclops, or something."

"What?"

"Come on, Sunshine." Leo attached the orb to his belt, pressed a button, then grabbed Calypso's hand. "We're going to take a walk. Festus, I'll be back, buddy. Keep an eye on things."

Festus yawned creakily, then laid his head down.

"He takes that job very seriously," Calypso said, eyes twinkling.

"Yeah, well, he'd barbeque anybody who tried to take my stuff," Leo said. "I hope."

Hand in hand, they walked through the darkening woods. Camp Half-Blood was magically climate-controlled, but it was still late December and chilly beneath the trees. Leo kept his eyes peeled for monsters, but he didn't see any. He wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or just luck.

"You didn't answer my question," Calypso said.

"Which one?"

"What are you working on? You've been in the bunker since breakfast."

"Oh." Leo swallowed, trying to force down the sense of panic the nightmare had left him with. The darkness, the voices (one of which he _definitely_ recognized and was _definitely_ not happy to hear again), the feeling of dissolving, and the threat against his friends had all been incredibly disturbing. Leo had died once to save his friends. He'd do it again, if he had to, but he'd prefer to avoid it if at all possible. So, as soon as he'd woken up, he'd gone straight to Bunker Nine to finish working on his newest project, which he hoped would offer demigods some extra protection from monsters. "Long story."

"I have time."

They had a brief staring contest, then Leo relented. "Alright. Fine. So, I had this messed up dream last night…"

By the time they reached the cabins, Leo had filled her in. Calypso was quiet for a moment. "This goddess and her friends want to destroy you and your friends?"

"Pretty much. I mean, it's not the first time, but still." Leo realized his fingers were tapping out 'Uh-oh' in Morse code against the sphere at his belt and he quickly forced them to be still. "This dream freaked me out."

"So you went to the bunker this morning to finish your demigod-smell-cloaking device?"

"Right in one, Sunshine."

Calypso rolled her eyes. "Why must you call me that?"

"Because it annoys you." Leo wiggled his eyebrows. "And I know how much you like being annoyed by me."

"I most certainly do not." Calypso did a good job of looking offended, but Leo could see the corner of her mouth turning up as she fought back a smile.

He grinned, but before he could continue the conversation, he spotted Grover Underwood across the yard, near the Demeter cabin. "Perfect. Just the goat-man I need to see. Grover! Hey, Grover!"

"What's up?" Grover asked as Leo and Calypso jogged over to him.

Leo stopped and spread his arms. "Smell me."

Grover's eyes widened. "Uh, no thanks, man."

"Come on," Leo said. "I need to figure out whether my invention works or not."

"But why do I have to smell you?"

"Just tell me whether you notice demigod-stink on me."

Grover hesitated, then leaned forward and sniffed. He looked baffled for a moment, then leaned closer until his nose was an inch from Leo's shoulder. "No. Nothing. The whole camp smells like demigods, but I'm getting nothing from you. You smell like," Grover took another big whiff, "what is that, pine?"

"Axe Body Spray," Leo announced. He unclipped the sphere from his belt and held it up. "I distilled it into the filter. Should work for up to twenty-four hours at a time to mask a demigod's scent. After that, you have to change the filter."

Grover and Calypso both looked impressed. "That's amazing," Grover said. "If you could make more of those and we could get them out to satyrs in the schools, think how many more demigods could be brought safely to camp."

"Exactly," Leo said.

"Though you were really just making them for Piper's New Year's Eve party," Calypso pointed out.

"True," Leo admitted. "But Grover's idea is genius. We'll test these out at Piper's party, see if there are any last kinks to work out, then I'll start manufacturing them and getting them to the satyrs."

"Awesome," Grover said. "Keep me posted, man."

"Will do."

As soon as Grover disappeared, Calypso turned to Leo with narrowed eyes. "You went to him on purpose."

Leo widened his eyes innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please. He's a lord of the Wild, not to mention Percy's best friend. You knew he'd jump at the chance to use the spheres. Plus, I happen to know you have a dozen of those already sitting in Bunker Nine, ready to go."

"Yep. And I'm going to test them at the party. Provided things go well, they'll be all ready to roll out at the beginning of next semester. And, yeah, I figured Grover was the best guy to help me get them out there." Leo grinned. "It's all about who you know, Sunshine."

What he didn't tell Calypso was that six of those spheres were going straight to his friends. Hopefully, the spheres would shield them, at least a little bit, from whatever their dark and icy enemies had planned.

* * *

After dinner, Leo walked Calypso down to the beach. If he'd remembered that today was when his girlfriend was leaving for vacation, he would have spent the day with her, rather than alone in Bunker Nine. But it was too late to worry about that now.

Calypso was heading off to do some Caribbean island-hopping with a couple of sea nymph friends. When she'd told Leo what she had planned, he'd been surprised. "After all that, you want to go _back_ to an island?"

"These are _different_ islands," Calypso explained. "Besides, I haven't spent time with some of my friends in millennia. We have a lot of catching up to do."

She'd invited him to come, too, but Leo declined. He'd been tempted, sure; Caribbean island-hopping with his gorgeous girlfriend? Yeah, that wasn't exactly easy to turn down. But he thought it might be nice for Calypso to have some time to enjoy with her own friends, without having to drag him along, too.

The sun was setting over Long Island Sound, turning the waves orange and gold. A brisk wind off the water sent a chill down Leo's spine.

"Are you _sure_ you're fine with me leaving?" Calypso asked him, biting her lip.

"Totally fine, Sunshine," Leo reassured her. "This is what you wanted, right? Get out, see the world. All that stuff."

"What I want is you, Leo Valdez." His heart leapt when she said that, but he hated to see the worry in her eyes. "I just don't want you to feel like I used you to get off Ogygia and now I'm running off to—"

"Calypso." Leo cut her off. He took both her hands so they were standing face to face. "I want you to go with your friends. Have fun. You deserve it. I'll be right here when you get back. Promise."

Secretly, Leo was glad Calypso was getting out of the country. Last night's dream had seriously left him on edge. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but at least his girlfriend would be out of the line of fire.

No pun intended.

"Just be careful." Calypso squeezed Leo's hands. "Try not to die while I'm gone."

"Don't worry about me." Leo forced a grin. "I'm like a cockroach—impossible to kill."

"You're not a cockroach." Calypso leaned forward and kissed him. The evening seemed to get brighter.

He waited on the beach until she disappeared under the water with her nymph friends. Then, shoving his hands in his pockets, he headed back up the beach. The campfire was starting soon, and he was debating whether to join in and grab a s'more or head back to the bunker when he spotted Jason jogging towards him. The serious look on his friend's face immediately set alarm bells ringing in Leo's head.

As Jason reached him, Leo asked, "What's wrong?"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "How did you know something's wrong?"

"Dude, you have no poker face. Is Piper okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. I just got an IM from her. But she didn't have good news." Jason's expression turned grim and Leo's stomach somersaulted. "Annabeth was attacked tonight. So were Hazel and Frank."

"Anybody hurt?"

"Annabeth got a broken arm, Hazel got a broken leg, and Frank took a spear to the shoulder."

Leo winced.

"They're all going to be okay," Jason continued. "But Frank and Hazel are flying in tomorrow. Apparently, these monsters passed on some messages we need to discuss."

"'We' as in…?"

"As in you, me, Piper, Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank." Jason's grim look became, if possible, grimmer. "The seven demigods from the previous Great Prophecy."

Leo's mouth went dry. He remembered again the cold voices in his dream and the quasar pulsing eyes of the dark goddess locked onto his own. _And you, Leo Valdez, destroyer of the Earth Mother. I have a special punishment in mind for you_. He swallowed. "This is about revenge."

He met Jason's eyes. His friend didn't contradict him. Leo almost wished he had. But they both knew he was right.

* * *

Under different circumstances, Leo would have loved being invited to Tristan McLean's Manhattan penthouse. The place was _swanky_. Leather couches, a massive flat-screen TV, mahogany dining table, and a kitchen big enough to host a cooking competition. Unfortunately, Leo and his friends weren't here to hang out. Piper had suggested her dad's empty apartment because it seemed like a safe place to meet and discuss their current problems.

Leo glanced around the massive dining table at Jason, Piper, Annabeth, and Percy, all lost in their own thoughts. If it hadn't been for the magical healing properties of nectar and ambrosia, they all would have been covered in various cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Jason and Piper had been jumped by half a dozen Earthborn on their way over here from Piper's dorm; Jason had ended up with a dislocated shoulder and popping it back into place had not been pretty. Then, a sphinx had attacked Annabeth and Percy as they crossed Central Park this morning. They'd managed to subdue it, but not before Percy took a nasty swipe to the side. The sphinx had left three long claw marks across his ribs, although the nectar seemed to be taking care of them. Not to mention it had only been last night when a couple of Cyclopes and an _empousa_ had broken Annabeth's arm. She kept reaching up and rubbing it occasionally, like she could still feel the pain. And, of course, there had been Leo's little encounter with the _dracaenae_ on the subway less than an hour ago.

Hazel and Frank were due to arrive from the airport any minute now. Leo's gaze drifted to the balcony, visible through the massive double glass doors. It was snowing again. Large, heavy flakes swirled in a bitter wind, so thick Leo couldn't make out the building across the street. The weather today seemed extra cold and snowy; Leo didn't figure that was a good sign, not after what those _dracaenae_ had told him.

Leo hadn't wanted to be attacked on his way to Piper's dad's place. Especially since he had been alone this afternoon, minus any super-powerful friends for back-up. So running into a pair of _dracaenae_ did not make him happy.

He and Jason had caught a ride into the city in a camp van driven by one of the harpies, who was delivering strawberries to a restaurant; the fruit fetched a much higher price in the winter, since it was out of season and all. This, of course, was not a problem for Dionysus and the satyrs. The harpy had dropped them off a couple of blocks from Piper's dorm. After getting the address of Tristan McLean's penthouse from Jason, Leo had split. He loved his friends, but Jason and Piper hadn't seen each other in almost two weeks; no way Leo wanted to witness that scene. He'd catch up with them later. Besides, he needed to pick up some supplies from the hardware store. Just a few extra things he wanted to stash in his tool belt, just in case.

Luckily, his trip to the hardware store was successful. Unluckily, his trip on the subway was not. The A train wasn't running, so he'd been forced to zig-zag across the city, trying to get back uptown to where Mr. McLean's place was. Leo wasn't a native New Yorker and trying to understand the subway system sometimes felt more complicated than calculus.

He ran through a couple stations, squeezed onto the F train just as the doors were closing, rushed off, and high-tailed it through another station. Leo was just beginning to relax and feel like he had this public transportation thing down when, somewhere in the vicinity of 42nd Street, while changing trains, he ran into the _dracaenae_.

Leo froze on the platform. It was too much to hope that they'd leave him alone. Nope, as soon as one spotted him, she nudged her friend. The pair of them gave equally evil, snaky grins, then slithered in his direction.

"Uh-oh," Leo muttered. He considered his options, then turned and ran for the escalator.

Which, naturally, was out of order. Leo began to climb the stairs, but it was the longest escalator he'd ever been on.

"It's like climbing from the freaking Underworld," he gasped. He had a stitch in his side, but when he looked back, the _dracaenae_ were slithering up the escalator and they were gaining on him. Leo put on an extra spurt of speed and burst into the hallway at Grand Central Station.

He looked around wildly. It was just after noon and the place was packed with mortals. It was a terrible spot for a fight. Unfortunately, it didn't look like Leo was going to have much of a choice as the _dracaenae_ reached the top of the escalator, looked around, then hissed in unison as they spotted him.

"It'sss him," one said. "He'sss one of them."

"Yesss," the other agreed. "That'ssss the one who dessstroyed the Earth Mother. Valdez!"

"KILL VALDEZ!" they shouted together.

"Great," Leo muttered.

The snake ladies lowered their spears and began to advance on Leo, who found himself backing down a deserted, dead-end hallway.

"Ladies, please." He held up his hands and tried for a winning smile. Why had he picked _this_ morning of all days to put his tool belt in his backpack? He was pretty sure it was right at the bottom, completely inaccessible. "We don't really want to get into this. You threaten me, I whip out some demigod awesomeness, you get sent back to Tartarus. But if you walk away now, I promise not to hurt you."

"You will die!" The angrier looking _dracaena_ charged forward. Leo dove to the side a second before her spear would have turned him into a Leo-kabob. He knew what he was going to have to do, but he had to be careful. It would not be cool if he burnt down a New York City landmark.

As the snake lady charged at him again, with her friend hanging back yelling, "Kill him!" Leo summoned a concentrated burst of flames and flung it right at the snake lady. She shrieked as the fire enveloped her. The next moment, she was a charred pile of monster dust on the marble floor.

The other _dracaena_ stood staring at him with her mouth agape. Fury broke across her face.

"The goddesssss wasss right," she hissed, moving forward slowly, spear pointing right at Leo's chest. "You are too dangerousss to live. The otherssss will be ssssufficient for what the winter goddessssss hasss planned."

"The winter goddess?" Leo flashed on some severely unpleasant memories from Quebec, from the Wolf House, from Greece. "Do you mean—"

The snake lady charged, which pretty quickly ended the interrogation. Leo summoned another fistful of fire and lobbed it at her. Within seconds, the second _dracaena_ , too, had been reduced to ash.

Leo was barely breathing hard, but his heart was racing. _The winter goddess_. There was only one immortal that could be.

And if she was after them, it was seriously bad news.

Cursing at slow subways, stupid _dracaenae_ , and irritating goddesses (not his girlfriend, of course), Leo headed back down the escalator to catch the subway to meet his friends.

Lost in less-than-pleasant thoughts about annoying immortals, Leo jumped when a massive stallion appeared out of nowhere on the patio. But he grinned when he saw who was on the horse.

"The _Romani_ are here," he announced.

Despite the circumstances, it was great to see Hazel and Frank again. Leo hadn't actually seen either of them since he'd returned. As soon as she slid off of Arion's back, Hazel threw her arms around Leo, who couldn't help choking up, just a tiny bit, as he hugged her.

She kissed his cheek, then punched him in the arm. "If you _ever_ pull a stunt like that again—"

"—we'll all take turns strangling you," Frank finished. He gave Leo a bear hug that nearly cracked his ribs. "Good to see you, Valdez."

"You too, buddy," Leo squeaked. "Can't breathe."

"How the heck did Arion get all the way up here?" Jason asked after the others had finished their greetings.

Hazel beamed. "Because he's the best horse ever."

Frank, who looked a little green, didn't seem to agree, but he said nothing.

Arion whinnied and shook his mane.

"Geez, dude, watch the language," Percy said.

Leo rubbed his hands together. The balcony was freezing. "Alright, my peeps, should we get this party started?"

Seeing all seven of them gathered around the dining room table gave Leo vertigo. The others seemed to be feeling it, too.

"Anyone else having an _Argo II_ flashback?" Jason asked.

Percy raised his hand. "Right here."

"Anyway," Annabeth said, "as great as it is to be together again, we have a problem."

"That's an understatement," Leo said. Piper kicked him under the table. Just like old times.

"We need to pool what we know so we can figure out how to stop all these attacks," Annabeth continued. "Piper, do you want to start?"

"Sure." Piper took a deep breath. "So, Annabeth and I learned something a while back. We probably should have told you guys earlier, but some other things came up and, well, we forgot."

Percy raised his eyebrows at Annabeth. " _You_ forgot?"

She shrugged. "It happens."

"Back in October, my mom sent Annabeth and me on a stupid quest to rescue her hairbrush from some fashion-crazed spirits who'd come back through the Doors of Death. Long story. Point is, the leader of these women gave us some bad news." Piper glanced at Annabeth.

"The bounties from Gaea are still on our heads," Annabeth said.

Shocked silence.

"Are you _freaking_ kidding me?" Leo said in a low voice.

"When were you planning on telling us this?" Percy asked.

Annabeth winced. "We were going to tell you that day, but then—"

"Leo came back," Piper finished. "That quest was the same day Leo, Calypso, and Festus landed in Central Park. It didn't seem like the right time to mention it."

"And then nothing ever came of it," Annabeth continued. "Until now."

Jason leaned forward. "So the bounties are still on our heads. I guess that makes sense. With Gaea and the giants gone, who would have taken them away?"

"But that's exactly the point," Frank said. "With Gaea and the giants gone, who's going to _pay_ the bounties?"

"I think I know," Leo and Annabeth said at the same time.

They looked at each other in surprise.

"You do?"

" _You_ do?"

"Hold up." Jason raised his hands like a referee. "One at a time."

"Ladies first." Leo gestured to Annabeth.

She shook her head. "Actually, I'd like to hear your theory first."

"Okay." Leo told them about the _dracaenae_ attack in Grand Central Station and what the snake ladies had said about the winter goddess.

"So you think Khione sent a pair of _dracaenae_ after you?" Jason asked after Leo finished his story.

"She said 'the winter goddess'," Leo said. "I don't know who else that could be."

Everyone looked at Annabeth, who was deep in thought, spinning her placemat around on the table. When she noticed them all looking at her, she shrugged. "I can't think of any other Greek deities who fit that description."

"But," Jason frowned, "Pipes, I thought you killed her?"

Piper shook her head. "Khione's a goddess. She wouldn't really stay dead."

"Piper's right," Annabeth said. "The best you could hope for would be to banish her for a while, dispel her essence, which is what you did. But, eventually, most immortals will come back."

"Not a happy thought," Leo said.

"Not at all," Annabeth agreed.

Jason looked thoughtful. "You know, that would explain the weather, too. I mean, I know it's December, but doesn't it seem like it's been extra cold and snowy?" He looked at Piper and Leo. "Remember our quest to rescue Hera?"

"Vaguely," Leo said. "Didn't it involve lots of crashing and burning, literally?"

Jason ignored him. "Those snowstorms that followed us across the country? They were Khione, spying on us."

"You think she's spying on us now?" Piper asked.

"I'm just saying it's a possibility," Jason said.

Tense silence settled over the table. All of them glanced at the windows. Outside, snow was falling, thick and fast.

"But why?" Frank asked. "What's her angle?"

"I'd start with revenge," said Leo. "I can't imagine Khione is too happy with Piper."

"There's more to it than revenge." Piper rested her elbows on the table. "Khione isn't smart enough to work alone; someone is telling her what to do. Like Gaea did."

"But Gaea's gone, right?" Leo asked. "I mean, wasn't that the whole point of my noble sacrifice?"

"I think it makes it less noble if you refer to it that way," Hazel pointed out.

"It would if I was serious. My point is, who else would be giving the Snow Queen orders?"

Annabeth had stopped spinning her placemat. Now she was pressing her fingers against the table, like she was trying to keep them from trembling. "That's where my theory comes in. I, um, had a dream the other night."

She seemed reluctant to say more, which was not reassuring. Anything that could scare Annabeth, Leo was pretty sure he didn't want to meet.

"What was the dream about?" Hazel prompted gently.

"Night," Annabeth whispered.

That didn't make any sense to Leo. What was so scary about having a dream about night?

Frank, apparently, was also confused. His forehead wrinkled. "Night?"

"Oh." All the color drained out of Percy's face as he turned to Annabeth. " _Night?_ "

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah."

Leo was still confused, but Piper's eyes widened in understanding. "Nyx? The primordial goddess of night? The one you guys escaped in Tartarus?"

"That's the one," Annabeth said grimly. "In my dream, I was standing at the edge of Chaos again. Nyx was talking to someone, but I couldn't see who. They were planning something and Nyx, she—she mentioned wanting to destroy 'those miserable tourists.'"

The story clicked into place in Leo's mind. He remembered hearing about Percy and Annabeth's encounter with the primordial goddess Nyx, who had wanted to fling them into the void of Chaos. No surprise, that hadn't been a pleasant experience. And if just the thought of the goddess could make both of them look so freaked out even now, well, Leo didn't take that as a good sign.

"So you think Nyx is controlling Khione?" Frank asked.

"That's my theory," Annabeth said.

Hazel looked thoughtful. "That could explain why monster attacks have increased."

Annabeth and Piper exchanged looks again. "We've been doing some research into that," Annabeth said.

"Turns out," Piper continued, "monster attacks haven't increased for other demigods. Just, well, us."

"Of course," Percy muttered.

"Which probably means that Nyx is willing to pay the bounties that Gaea set up," Jason concluded.

"Probably," Piper said.

It got quiet while they all processed that. Leo was again glad Calypso was safe in the Caribbean, but he was pretty furious that someone was hunting down him and his friends. Agitated, he drummed his fingers on the table. He didn't realize he was spelling out a curse word in Morse code until Annabeth gave him a strange look.

Across the table, Leo noticed Frank and Hazel exchanging looks. Then Hazel said, "There's one more thing. Tell them, Frank."

Frank took a deep breath. "So, yesterday, while I was getting ready to leave, Rachel Dare and Ella came to see me. They—they figured out one of the prophecies Ella memorized, from the Sibylline Books. Rachel said she thinks it relates to this quest."

A horrible feeling of foreboding settled over Leo. "I didn't know this _was_ a quest."

"Apparently it is." Frank took another breath, then said, "So, anyway, the prophecy they found goes like this:

 _Seven heroes' vanquished foes,_

 _Rise to avenge the earth mother's woes._

 _Blood secures the rise of night;_

 _Serpent and goddess shall unite._

 _The son of the elder god will fall,_

 _Spirit returned to the sun god's call._

Silence settled on the table, heavy and cold like a blanket of snow, while they all processed the words. Finally, Leo swallowed. "I love these prophecies. They're always so cheery."

"Yeah, I've heard some good ones before," Percy said, "but this one seems especially dark."

"Can you say it again, Frank?" Piper asked.

Obediently, Frank recited the prophecy again.

" _Seven heroes' vanquished foes/ Rise to avenge the earth mother's woes_." Annabeth was spinning her placemat again. "That seems pretty straightforward."

"The seven of us have vanquished _a lot_ of foes," Leo agreed.

"And avenging the ' _earth mother's woes_ ,' seems pretty obvious, too," Jason said. "I mean, that's Gaea, right?"

"I think so." Hazel's gold eyes were dark. "But which foes are rising? The giants?"

Annabeth shuddered. "Gods, I hope not."

"It doesn't have to mean the giants," Piper offered. "I mean, we already suspect Khione. She would be a risen foe."

Meanwhile, Percy looked like he was trying to swallow a tennis ball. "Hey, Frank, how'd that middle part go again? Some happy stuff about blood and night?"  
" _'Blood secures the rise of night/ Serpent and goddess shall unite_ ,'" Frank said. "What are you thinking?"

"I really hope I'm wrong, but that line seems pretty straightforward, too. Remember that time Gaea used Annabeth's and my blood to rise?"

"Maybe," Leo replied. "Didn't I die in a fiery explosion shortly afterwards?"

"Sounds familiar. Anyway, ' _Blood secures the rise of night_.' Like 'night' with a capital 'N'?" Percy grimaced like he was now choking on the tennis ball. "Sounds like Nyx is planning a Dirt Queen-style wake-up."

Judging by his friends' faces, they were just as happy to hear that news as Leo was. Which was to say _not at all_.

"These immortals need to settle down," Jason muttered.

"That'd be nice," Percy agreed.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "We can't do anything about that part of the prophecy right now. I mean, it doesn't say whose blood or when Nyx is planning to use it. We'll just have to deal with that if it comes. What were the last two lines of the prophecy again, Frank?"

Frank didn't answer right away. He was tracing his finger across the woodgrain of the table, as if drawing battle plans. Without looking up, he said, "' _The son of the elder god will fall/ Spirit returned to the sun god's call._ '"

Uncomfortable silence hung around the table. Percy finally broke it by looking at Jason and saying, "What do you think, man? Want to play Rock, Paper, Scissors for this one?"

Jason forced a laugh. "Best two out of three?"

"It doesn't have to mean fall as in die," Hazel protested. "Remember that prophecy in Alaska, Percy?"

"Oh yeah." Frank finally looked up. "It said the son of Neptune would drown, but then you drowned a bunch of ghosts instead."

"True." Percy sounded like he was just humoring them.

"Maybe you fall off of something," Leo suggested.

"I could fall off the balcony," Jason volunteered. "And then just fly back up."

"I'm pretty sure prophecies don't work that way." Piper looked a little pale, but there was a determined glint in her eyes that always made Leo glad he was on her side. "Look, we'll make ourselves crazy trying to figure it out. Let's just start with a problem we _can_ solve."

Jason cleared his throat. "Which would be what?"

"Figuring out how Khione is involved. If we find her, maybe we can get more information about what Nyx is planning. And at least that gives us a starting point." Piper gripped the hilt of her Boread sword. "Quebec. The palace of Boreas. Even if Khione isn't there anymore, the wind god might give us some information."

"If he doesn't turn us into hero-sicles first. But works for me," Leo added hastily as Piper glared at him. He clapped his hands together. "Festus and I can fly up there tomorrow morning with whoever wants to tag along."

"I could probably borrow my stepdad's car, too," Percy said. "Maybe we can all go."

"A road trip to track down a demented snow goddess?" Leo grinned. "Oh yeah, this should go well."

* * *

The demigods spent the rest of the evening hanging out in Piper's dad's super sweet penthouse. Seriously, the guy had every gaming system known to mortals (and possibly immortals). They ended up playing _Halo_ tournament style, one on one. Winner advanced, loser was knocked out. Leo beat Percy after a lengthy stand-off. The son of Poseidon seemed bummed to be out in the first round. He tried to make up for it by "helping" coach Annabeth in her game against Jason until finally, exasperated, she told him, "Oh my gods, Percy. I love you, but if you don't back off and let me play, I swear to Zeus I will drive my sword through your foot."

Percy backed off after that and the others tried very hard to hide their grins.

Leo made it to the final around, up against, of all people, Hazel. Through some unknown skill she had slaughtered both Piper and Frank. Now, she proceeded to completely annihilate Leo. Seriously, the girl was literally killing it.

Leo gaped at her after his spectacular loss. "What the holy Hades was that, Levesque?"

Hazel smiled innocently. "Beginner's luck?"

"Not a chance," Percy said. "You've been practicing."

"Truth time, Frank," Piper said. "How many times _really_ has Hazel played _Halo_ before tonight?"

Frank's ears turned red and he cleared his throat. "This was the first time, I swear."

"You're a bad liar, Zhang," Jason said with a grin.

"You know, for round two we could always set these things on idiot mode." Leo produced a small screwdriver from his tool belt.

"Oh no," Piper said. "Leo, don't you dare go near my dad's X-box with that thing."

"Aw, come on, Pipes."

" _No_."

Just then, the pizzas arrived, which provided a temporary distraction.

"How's Reyna?" Piper asked while everyone was eating their pizza.

"She's good." Frank had taken the cheese off his slice because of his lactose-intolerance, which Leo thought must be a pretty depressing way to eat pizza. "We've been making some changes to the way things are done in the legion so there won't be another issue like what happened with Octavian."

"Did you ever get a new augur?" Jason asked.

Hazel nodded. "Her name's Melody. She's a daughter of Apollo. And pretty much the exact opposite of Octavian in every way. Of course, the power of prophecy still isn't working, now that Python is in Delphi. But there's other news." Hazel's golden eyes sparkled as she looked at Piper and Annabeth. "Reyna has a boyfriend."

"Seriously?" Piper almost squealed.

"Who is it?" Annabeth demanded.

"A mortal. His name is Matt. They met at a coffee shop in San Francisco." Hazel smiled. "Frank and I met him last week. Reyna brought us along for back up when she explained to him about the whole demigod thing."

Percy whistled. "How did that go?"

"Actually, he took it pretty well," admitted Frank. "Barely freaked when I turned into an eagle."

"He seems like a really nice guy," Hazel added. "And Reyna is happy."

"That's great," Piper said. "She deserves to be happy."

"Absolutely," Annabeth agreed.

"I just hope he's up to it." Percy said as he grabbed his fourth slice. "Having a demigod girlfriend can be challenging. Ow!"

The last part was because Annabeth smacked his arm. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, um, just that, you know, it can be tough. Because of, uh, the monsters and stuff." Percy looked around at Frank and Jason for support, but they both appeared very engrossed in their pizza. "Aw, come on, guys, back me up. Valdez?"

"Can't help you, man, my girlfriend's a goddess," Leo called from the couch, where he was sitting with Tristan McLean's X-box in his lap. When he realized he'd drawn everyone's attention, including Piper's, to himself, he said, "Oops."

"Leo Valdez!"

"I just made a few improvements, Piper. Totally minor."

"Leo, I told you—"

"He's going to love it, I promise."

"Leo!"

And the new entertainment became watching Piper chase Leo around the room, smacking him with a pillow until he agreed to return her dad's equipment back to its original settings.

Around midnight, the girls got tired of the video game marathon and disappeared into Piper's room. By three in the morning, Leo's eyes were getting blurry.

Percy yawned widely and set down his controller. "I think I'm about beat."

"You're just tired of getting your _podex_ kicked in _Call of Duty_ ," Frank said with a grin.

"Dude, I don't know what you're talking about. But if we're going to Canada in the morning, we probably need to get some sleep."

Jason stretched. "True. How're we doing this? There's only three couches."

"I call not the chair," Leo said.

"I'll take the chair," Frank volunteered. "I can turn into a bulldog. I sleep better that way anyhow."

"Really?" Percy asked. "How come?"

Frank shrugged. "No idea. It just works."

Leo fell asleep watching snow still falling steadily outside.

He woke up to a hideous face staring down at him. A face with only one eye.


	5. Chapter IV: Piper

*****Thanks again for the reviews, follows, and favorites! To answer one reviewer's question: Yes, this story will be told from the POVs of Annabeth, Frank, Leo, and Piper (Percy might sneak in once, too). I do love Hazel and Jason, too, but their POVs just didn't quite fit into this story; it started to feel too busy, with too many narrators.**

 **However, if you're looking for more Hazel, I did write scenes from her POV in my story "The In-Between Times," which includes missing moments from** _ **Blood of Olympus**_ **. I also did a version of** _ **Blood of Olympus**_ **(before the book came out) which** _ **is**_ **told from the POVs of all of the Seven. So, if you're looking for more with the Seven, check those out!**

 **Now, back to the story! Kind of a short chapter; next one will be longer. Next chapter will be up in a few days!*****

* * *

 **IV. PIPER**

In her dream, Piper was cold. Freezing cold. She could literally feel her body temperature dropping as she stood there. Not knowing how much time she had in this vision, Piper studied the room around her. She was standing in a room the size of a cathedral. But there was something strange about the walls. They shimmered like they were made of glass or crystal. Even the floor beneath her feet was made of the same material. Strange green lights danced across the ceiling, like a ribbon spun against the sky.

But what drew Piper's eyes was the structure in front of her, the only thing in an otherwise empty room. It was a massive slab of void-black stone. With a realization even more chilling than the air around her, Piper realized what it was.

An altar.

Piper wasn't sure what woke her up. One moment she was freezing to death in front of a black stone altar, the next second she was wide awake, back in her bed at her dad's apartment. She lay still, trying to figure out why her heart was suddenly racing. And then she heard it again. A sound like a scuffle, a _thud_ , then silence.

All of Piper's senses were instantly on high alert. She reached across the king-size bed to where Annabeth was sleeping (yes, it was ridiculous that the bed was so big, and yes, her dad had insisted. Or rather, the decorator her dad hired had insisted. Even more ridiculous was the full size leather sofa in her bedroom, which Hazel was currently sleeping on). Piper shook her friend's arm.

Annabeth was awake in seconds. "What's—"

Piper clapped a hand over her friend's mouth and held a finger to her own lips to signal quiet. "I heard something," Piper said in a low voice.

"Problem?" Annabeth whispered.

Piper nodded. "I think so."

As quietly as they could, Piper and Annabeth got up and woke Hazel. Piper's ears were straining for any sound as the three of them quickly changed from pajamas into jeans and sweatshirts, but she heard nothing. They grabbed their weapons and headed out the door. Piper silently thanked her dad's decorator for buying top-of-the-line hinges that didn't squeak.

The three of them crept down the hallway. There were still no sounds from the living room. The entire apartment was so quiet that Piper nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Percy's voice.

"Annabeth, sweetie? Can you come in here for a sec?"

Annabeth froze. Her expression was both scared and nauseated. "Percy has _never_ , not once, called me 'sweetie.'" She shuddered. "That's not Percy."

"Cyclopes can mimic voices," Hazel whispered.

"I know." In the dim light of their magic swords, Annabeth's face was pale.

Piper flashed back to the warehouse in Detroit where, last winter, she, Jason, and Leo had been attacked by a group of Cyclopes. "What's the better strategy? Should we respond, or keep quiet?"

"We're twenty feet away," Hazel said. "I'm sure the monsters have caught our scent already."

"You're probably right." Annabeth took a deep breath, then called, "Just a sec, sweetie." She looked like she wanted to gag from the name, but she murmured to Piper and Hazel, "Hopefully the guys will realize we know this is a set-up."

The living room doorway was only a few feet away. Piper took point, Annabeth and Hazel on either side of her, all with their swords raised. But when she stepped through the doorway, it was like stepping into a scene from her worst nightmares.

Cyclopes.

At least a dozen of them.

Their hulking shapes filled the living room, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the fact that three of the monsters were holding Jason, Leo, and Percy, all unconscious. A fourth held a snarling bulldog by the scruff of its neck. It took Piper a moment to realize that was Frank.

Before Piper could fully process the scene, two more Cyclopes leaped out from where they'd been hiding on either side of the doorway. In an instant, Annabeth and Hazel had also been knocked out.

Piper thought she knew fear. She thought she'd faced the worst of it in Sparta and Athens. Now, standing in the dark, her friends incapacitated, surrounded by flesh-eating monsters, Piper achieved a whole new degree of helplessness and horror.

And then a terribly familiar face loomed out of the darkness. A Cyclops with greasy black pigtails, a thick nose, and wearing a chain mail muumuu stepped in front of Piper.

Ma Gasket bared her cracked teeth in a grin. "Hello again, Piper McLean."

"Let my friends go." Piper's voice shook; there was no charmspeak in it.

The Cyclops lady threw back her head and laughed. "Oh no, little hero. My boys and I will get the bounties for capturing you and your friends. And when the goddess is finished, I'm sure she'll let us keep a few of you for a treat. We will feast on the flesh of heroes! With salsa!"

Piper opened her mouth, but she never got the chance to say anything. Something heavy connected with her skull and the darkness became complete.


	6. Chapter V: Annabeth

*****Sorry for the delay on this chapter, this week totally got busy, which I hadn't expected. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! Special thanks to the person who pointed out that Calypso is a nymph—I've been referring to her accidentally as a goddess (will make sure to correct that in later chapters). Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter! Next one will be up in a couple days!*****

* * *

 **V. ANNABETH**

Annabeth was terrified when she saw what was waiting for them in the living room. Next to spiders, Cyclopes were her biggest fear. Sometimes she really wished she'd had a less traumatic childhood.

Fortunately, she wasn't terrified for long. A Cyclops cracked her on the skull and she passed out. When she woke up, it was to an even more bizarre scene.

She was standing in a circular metal room about as big around as a grain silo. Still woozy, it took her a moment to realize that she wasn't alone. Tied to six stakes set in a circle around the room were Percy, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, and Leo, all still unconscious. Frank and Leo were wrapped in chains. The others had their hands bound over their heads, tied to the tops of the stakes, and ropes wrapped around them, keeping them firmly in place. It took another moment for Annabeth to realize that her hands, too, were bound above her head and a rope was holding her against the pole. And then she noticed that their weapons were gone.

She threw all her weight against the ropes binding her wrists, but they didn't budge. Neither did the ropes around her body. She was effectively trapped, but Annabeth wasn't panicking yet. There was no immediate threat, at least not that she could see, which meant they had time to figure out an escape. Unless, of course, the walls decided to suddenly close in. Oh, bad thought. She glanced up apprehensively, but the ceiling ten feet above her head didn't move. Neither did the floor. Taking that as a good sign, Annabeth began to take more stock of the room. As far as she could tell, it was smooth metal, no sign of rivets or seams; she couldn't even see a door. That scared her, but she forced herself to remain calm. Maybe the door was just behind her; she was tied too tightly to be able to turn around.

The others were beginning to come around, groaning and blinking in confusion.

"What the heck is this?" asked Leo, looking at his chains.

"Have I mentioned how much I _hate_ being knocked on the head?" Jason grumbled. His glasses were askew.

"Where are we?" Piper pulled on the ropes binding her wrists, like Annabeth had, but she didn't have any more luck. "What is this place?"

Hazel closed her eyes. "I think we're underground. And there's something strange about this place."

"You mean something strange besides the fact that we're tied up here?" Percy asked.

"Yes." Hazel's golden eyes were dark with worry. "I can sense magic. Or sorcery. This is a bad place."

"Great," Frank grunted. He was straining against the chains, which didn't budge. "Maybe I can turn into a small animal and get out of these chains."

"Oh, I wouldn't recommend doing that, Frank Zhang," said a voice from directly behind Annabeth.

She turned her head, but she couldn't see anything. However, her friends' faces turned slack and wide-eyed.

Percy cursed. "You again."

"Yes, Perseus Jackson. Me, again." The voice was smooth, and strangely muffled, but Annabeth could hear the anger simmering beneath the surface. "I told you I would have my revenge." The speaker came into Annabeth's field of view and she inhaled sharply.

Chrysaor.

His golden armor sparkled in the dim light, as if it had been freshly polished. A massive sword gleamed at his side. And he wasn't alone.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Percy groaned.

Another pair of figures came into Annabeth's field of vision. The figures were wearing tattered, bright green Bargain Mart vests over flower print dresses. Both had glowing red eyes, boar tusks at the corners of their mouths, and snakes for hair. Gorgons.

The green-snake-haired one cackled. "No joke, demigod. We have been waiting a long time to get our claws on you again, Percy Jackson." She sneered and held her talons against Percy's throat.

"Enough, Euryale." As grotesque as the gorgons themselves were, Chrysaor's mask was ten times worse. "Revenge will come later. For now, our job is to welcome these demigods."

"Oh yeah, being chained to a pole always makes me feel _really_ welcome," Leo said.

"It was necessary," Chrysaor said. "You and Frank Zhang had to be chained, Leo Valdez. Otherwise, it would have been far too simple for you to escape. Fire and large animals break ropes easily. And Frank Zhang's chains are enchanted, of course, so that if he tries to turn into something small and escape, the chains will tighten and suffocate him."

Frank looked nauseous. "That's diabolical."

Chrysaor nodded. "Yes, my mother laid her trap well. The bounties from Gaea helped, of course. Very detailed."

The coral-snake-haired gorgon giggled. "The Earth Mother thought of everything."

"Yeah, Gaea's plan worked great," Jason said, "right up until we blew her to Tartarus."

The grins slid off the gorgons' faces. Chrysaor's snarling mask seemed to become even more pronounced as he said, "Yes, Jason Grace. And for that, you will pay. You will all pay dearly."

"What happened to the Cyclopes?" Piper asked. "Where's Ma Gasket?"

Chrysaor waved a hand airily. "She went to help prepare the final assault. Cyclopes are lesser, thick-headed allies, but often quite useful. Spectacular mechanical skills."

Annabeth found her voice. "Enough. Chrysaor, what do you want? Why are we here?"

He turned the unsettling mask towards her. "What do I want, Annabeth Chase? Why, the same thing I wanted last time. I am still a pirate, after all, though thanks to Percy Jackson, I have lost my ship and crew." Chrysaor stepped forward until he was only a few inches away from Annabeth. "I want everything you have." He reached out and ran a finger slowly down Annabeth's cheek. She tried to jerk away, but the ropes were tied too tightly.

"Get your hands off her." Percy's snarl was as fierce as the one on Chrysaor's mask.

Chrysaor just chuckled as he stepped away, leaving Annabeth feeling sick to her stomach.

Piper's eyes were blazing, but she kept her voice sweet as she said, "You still haven't explained why you brought us here, Chrysaor. Weren't you supposed to be welcoming us?"

"Yes, Chrysaor," Euryale said impatiently. "Tell them why they're here!"

Annabeth doubted that something which made a gorgon so excited could be good for them.

"Ah, yes." Judging by the tone of his voice, Chrysaor was smirking underneath his mask. "The plan. But first, demigods, allow me to welcome you to the lair of Medusa!"

Stunned silence followed this remark. Annabeth and Percy exchanged stricken looks, then Percy said, "Uh, we're in New Jersey?"

The gorgons hissed. "That was her _old_ lair," Euryale said. "We are in a small room of her _new_ lair. It's much fancier."

"There may even be room for a Bargain Mart," the other gorgon added eagerly. Her sister smacked her in the back of the head.

"Quiet, Stheno, you fool!"

"But Medusa promised," Stheno pouted.

This entire conversation was beginning to make Annabeth's head pound, but she latched onto one fact. "So Medusa is working for Khione?"

Chrysaor snorted. "My mother is far more powerful than that foolish goddess. But they serve the same mistress."

"Nyx," Annabeth said, her mouth dry.

"Indeed." Chrysaor sounded impressed. "I can see why the Earth Mother wanted your blood, Annabeth Chase. Of course, Gaea thought too small."

"Our new mistress has much higher ambitions." Euryale smirked.

"Even bigger than the savings at Bargain Mart!" Stheno added.

Annabeth swore to herself that she would never set foot in another Bargain Mart. "So what are these 'higher ambitions'?"

"I think we'll let my mother tell you that," Chrysaor said smoothly. "She is _very_ eager to see you again, daughter of Athena. And you, too, son of Poseidon. Almost as eager as she is to meet the rest of these demigods who brought down the Earth Mother. Particularly Leo Valdez. There are many who want to destroy you personally, son of Hephaestus."

Leo yawned. "That's old news, man."

Euryale growled and took a step towards Leo, but Chrysaor put out a hand, holding her back. "Don't worry. He'll be pleading for mercy soon enough."

"Yeah, I don't see that happening," Leo said.

"Just wait, demigod," Euryale hissed. "You think you have experienced horrors before? They are nothing compared to what our mistress has planned! She will shroud the world in cold and darkness forever. And you seven will have a front row seat to watch the destruction of everything you hold dear."

"Anyone else getting tired of these speeches?" Jason asked.

"You're right," Chrysaor said. "Time for action." He turned to the gorgons. "The boys can wait here until Medusa is ready. But the girls—the girls will come with me." The way he said that made Annabeth's skin crawl.

Percy's eyes narrowed. "No freaking way."

"And what will you do about it, son of Poseidon?" Chrysaor asked. "There's no water here."

"I don't need water," Jason growled. The pressure dropped. There was a smell of ozone and the hairs on Annabeth's arms stood up.

Chrysaor laughed. "I wouldn't do that, son of Jupiter. This room has been specially designed to contain you seven." He banged his fist against the wall, which emitted a hollow thud. "This room is made of metal. If you call down lightning, you'll electrocute your friends."

Jason looked stunned. The smell of ozone faded.

"Cut them loose," Chrysaor ordered the gorgons. Stheno and Euryale used their talons to slice the ropes binding Hazel and Piper to the metal poles, but kept their hands bound, while Chrysaor did the same to Annabeth. As soon as they were free, all three of them struggled, trying to fight. But in a flash, Chrysaor's golden sword was pressed against Annabeth's throat. Similarly, the gorgons had their claws at Piper's and Hazel's throats.

"Don't struggle," Chrysaor advised. "Or we'll spill your blood right here."

Piper's voice was laced with charmspeak as she said, "Chrysaor, please, you don't want—"

"Silence her," Chrysaor snapped at Stheno, who clapped a hand over Piper's mouth. "Now let's go."

All four boys strained against the ropes and chains binding them, but it did no good.

"You'll regret this, Chrysaor," Hazel warned.

"Shut up!" Chrysaor shouted. He pressed the sword harder against Annabeth's throat. She felt a trickle of blood run down her neck. The others froze. "That's better. Stheno, Euryale, we're leaving. If the females try to fight, kill them. We'll be back for the males later."

If she had been the only one in danger, Annabeth might have tried to fight back. But she wouldn't risk the gorgons hurting Piper and Hazel.

"Yes, Annabeth Chase," Chyrsaor said, almost as if he knew what she was thinking. "Some of us learn from our mistakes. As reckless as you demigods are, we know you won't act if it will put your friends in danger. Knowledge is truly a powerful advantage. I'm sure your mother would agree."

And with that, Chrysaor dragged Annabeth out the door. The gorgons followed with Piper and Hazel. The door snapped shut on the metal room, cutting off the sounds of the guys' yells.


	7. Chapter VI: Frank

*****Since the last chapter was a little delayed, I'm updating more quickly on this one. And, since this chapter is kind of short, Chapter Seven will also be up tonight.**

 **Thanks again to the reviewers! Side note: Someone mentioned that they thought Calypso was a Titan, since she's the daughter of Atlas. So, I decided to go back to the source and figure out what the old stories say. Rick Riordan's website links to the Theoi Project for Greek Mythology, so I looked up Calypso there. According to the website, "Calypso was the goddess nymph of the mythical island of Ogygia, a daughter of the Titan Atlas" (Theoi). The website also provides excerpts from historical sources related to the Greek myths (actually, the whole website is really cool and worth checking out). Anyway, from Homer's** _ **Odyssey**_ **, it says, "Only Odysseus was held elsewhere, pining for home and wife; the Nymphe Kalypso (Calypso), a goddess of strange power and beauty, had kept him captive within her arching caverns" (Homer,** _ **Odyssey**_ **).**

 **So, basically, she's referred to as both a goddess and a nymph. Like so many things in the Greek myths, as Rick says, I guess we can take our pick on which version we want to use.**

 **And now, back to the story!*****

* * *

 **VI. FRANK**

Panic. That was the main emotion Frank felt as the door slammed shut. He, Jason, and Percy were thrashing against their bonds, trying to break free, but it was doing no good. Frank thought about turning into a small animal so he could get out. Maybe Chrysaor had been bluffing when he told him the chains would magically shrink. Frank sucked in his stomach, testing to see if the chains would contract. They did. The chains drew so tight around him it was hard to breathe. So much for that plan. And the chains also prevented him from turning into something larger. He didn't think they would break, even if he turned into a dragon, which he couldn't do anyway because the room was too small and he'd crush his friends.

Percy and Jason were straining against the ropes binding them, but the ropes didn't budge.

"Jason, maybe you should try the lightning," Percy suggested.

"Hold off on that, man. I really don't feel like being fried right now." Leo's expression was calm. He alone wasn't frantically trying to escape, which made Frank angry.

"What is your problem?" Frank yelled. "Do you know what Chrysaor could be doing? Don't you care?"

Leo's calm mask flickered as he turned to Frank, revealing the fury underneath. "Yes, Zhang, I do care. And if Chrysaor lays a hand on the girls, I'll join you guys in ripping him apart. But panicking isn't going to help us get out of this."

"So what's your plan?" Percy asked.

"Just a sec." Leo's expression became focused. A moment later, there was a small _clink_ and the chains around him sagged. "Perfect."

The others gaped as Leo shrugged out of the chains, which puddled around his feet.

"Alright, Houdini, how the heck did you do that?" Percy demanded.

"Luckily for us, my friends, monsters are idiots. By the way, Frank, I'm going to have to use some fire, don't freak." Leo stepped over to Frank and summoned a white hot ball of fire into his palm. Frank tried to keep his breathing even; despite the fireproof pouch Leo had given him last summer, fire still scared him. Leo calmly held the flames against a link in the chain. "Monsters know nothing about how metal works. All I had to do was heat a link beyond endurance and the whole chain falls apart."

On cue, the metal snapped. The chain loosened around Frank, who lost no time getting free. "Thanks, Leo. Sorry about the 'don't you care' thing."

"No problem, man. I get it." Leo moved to burn the ropes off of Jason, then Percy. "But the girls aren't exactly helpless. Heck, they'll probably have Chrysaor begging for mercy by the time we get there."

"Let's hope so," Percy muttered, rubbing his wrists where the rope had cut into them. "You guys ready?"

"One problem," Jason said. "No weapons."

All four of them looked around the room. It was completely empty, except for the seven poles and the piles of ropes and chains.

Percy patted his pockets. "Schist. I don't even have Riptide."

Frank frowned. "They said this place was designed specifically to contain us. There must be some serious magic blocking this room." But magic reminded him of Hazel and panic threatened to overwhelm him again. Frank took a deep breath, forcing himself to take stock. "Okay, so no weapons."

Leo cursed. "And no tool belt."

"And no tool belt," Frank amended. "But we have our powers, so that's something."

"Yeah, hopefully we can fry, electrocute, drown, or maul anyone who gets in our way," Leo said.

"Uh, yeah, exactly. I think." Frank felt vulnerable without his bow, but Leo was right; he could always turn into something with teeth or vicious claws. "Let's get out of here."

Frank had been afraid the door would be locked, but it swung open easily. That made him more uneasy than relieved, though.

Jason seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Too easy. That can't be a good sign."

"Probably not," Frank agreed.

"Doesn't matter," Percy said. "We have to find the girls."

Frank and Jason exchanged nervous looks, but concern for their girlfriends won out. "You're right," Jason told Percy. "Let's go."

The door opened into a stainless steel hallway, brightly lit with fluorescent bulbs. Not exactly what Frank had been expecting.

"This looks more like a space station than the lair of a mythological monster," Leo observed.

"This is weird, right?" Frank said.

"Dude, at this point, _normal_ would freak me out. I'm used to weird." Percy's eyes narrowed as he looked down the hallway. "Only one door. Right at the end."

"Then I vote for Door Number One," Leo said.

Jason led the way down the hall. They had no plan aside from "beat the precious metal out of Chrysaor," but Frank figured they could improvise from there. The low buzz of the fluorescent lights and the glare on the metal walls set his teeth on edge. No matter what was through that door, it had to be better than this eerily sterile hallway.

Jason reached the door. He held up three fingers and silently counted down. Then, he threw all of his weight at the door and burst through. Percy, Leo, and Frank followed immediately behind him.

They barreled through the doorway and emerged—into sunlight?

"What the holy Hades?" Frank muttered, looking around. The four of them were standing in the middle of what appeared to be a church courtyard. Even more disconcerting, there was no snow. The air was warm and humid. Not far off, Frank could see the skyline of a city that was definitely notNew York. "Where are we?"

Percy blinked in the bright sunlight. "This isn't New Jersey."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Leo looked pale and a little shell-shocked. "But you're right. This is not New Jersey."

"You know where we are?" Jason asked.

"Oh, yeah. This is my old hometown, _mi amigos_." Leo smiled grimly. "Welcome to Houston."


	8. Chapter VII: Leo

**VII. LEO**

Leo's stomach was in knots. For one thing, he was a lot more worried about the girls than he was letting on. The idea of Chrysaor hurting Piper or Hazel made him see red (he definitely didn't want Annabeth to get hurt, either, but it was still hard to imagine even the worst monster not being intimidated by that scary blond girl). However, Leo had known that if he didn't keep his cool, the other guys would be even more freaked out; if it had been Calypso who'd been dragged out of the room, he would have lost it. But worrying about his friends wasn't the only reason he was nauseous.

Being back in Houston completely weirded him out. Leo had grown up here, but he hadn't been back in years, not since he'd run away from his third foster home and ended up being shipped off to El Paso. The humidity weighed on him. Or maybe that was the memories. Being here, Leo found it difficult to shut out the memories of that last night in the machine shop, the night his mother died. He'd paid Gaea back for that, but it still hurt.

All this ran through his head in the first fifteen seconds after they burst through the door. A door which no longer seemed to exist.

"I don't get it," Percy said. "How did we end up here?"

"Good question." Jason looked around. "And why are we at a church?"

Frank, who could always be counted on to find out random information, said, "I think we're at St. Paul's United Methodist Church."

"Cool," Leo said. "And also, who cares?"

Frank looked miffed. "It might be helpful."

"Oh." Percy suddenly turned so white, Leo was afraid the guy would pass out. "Oh gods. I think I know how we got here." He pointed at the tiles beneath their feet.

Leo looked down and frowned. They were standing in the middle of a brick courtyard. Candles were scattered around the circle. Most of the bricks were light brown, but with darker brown bricks interspersed through them. Leo squinted, trying to make out the pattern. Something about it was vaguely familiar. After a moment, he hit on a memory that turned his fingertips cold. "It looks like Pasiphae's necklace. The one she was wearing in the House of Hades."

"It's a labyrinth," Percy said dully.

"I'm guessing that's bad," ventured Jason.

"Yeah, it is." Percy kicked the bricks. "Because it means Chrysaor and the gorgons could have taken the girls anywhere. We have no way to find them."

"Can't we just get back into the maze?" Frank asked. "Retrace our steps?"

Percy shook his head. "It's not that easy. Traveling in the Labyrinth is—tricky. I mean, it literally tries to trick you. It's almost impossible to navigate. We only got through the last time because of Rachel."

"But we have to help the girls," Frank insisted.

"I know that," Percy said. "But I don't think we can use this doorway again. The door should open with a half-blood's touch but," he bent down and pressed his palm against the bricks, "see? Nothing happens."

"Maybe we need a different door," Jason suggested.

"Maybe." Percy stood back up. "They're not always easy to find, though. This is a big city. A door could be anywhere. And, uh, we're in a hurry."

The gears in Leo's mind were turning. He almost thought he had an idea. "But maybe we can narrow down our options. The Labyrinth brought us to this, well, labyrinth. What if we go to another Houston spot that's related to Greek mythology? Wouldn't we have a better chance of finding an entrance there?"

Percy shrugged. "It can't hurt."

Frank frowned. "How many references to Greek mythology can there be in Texas?"

"Hopefully, at least one," Leo said.

Frank and Percy waited outside while Jason and Leo ducked into the office of the church, where a very nice secretary allowed Leo to do a quick Google search on her computer. What he found was so ridiculous, he wasn't sure whether to laugh or punch something.

Jason just shook his head when Leo shared his findings. After thanking the secretary, they headed back outside to tell Percy and Frank the news.

"You're not going to believe this," Leo announced.

"Try me," Percy replied.

"About two miles away, there's the Greek Myth Café." Jason pointed to a nearby bus stop. "We can catch the bus in a couple of minutes."

"The Greek Myth Café?" Frank said. "That seems too easy."

"But it can't hurt to check it out," Jason said. "It's a solid lead."

"That's not the best part," Leo added. He shot Percy a grin. "You'll love this, man. The Greek Myth Café is right off of Jackson Street."

Percy blinked. "You have got to be joking."

"Nope." Jason clapped Percy on the shoulder. "Come on, Jackson. Let's go meet your fate."

* * *

The Greek Myth Café was set in the ground floor of an office building, near the Gulf Highway. Hearing the whoosh of cars on the expressway brought back a rush of memories for Leo. His mom cooking her spicy chorizo enchiladas for dinner after they got home from the machine shop. His first toolset, which he had used to take apart the microwave. When his mom found him sitting on the kitchen floor in the middle of a sea of parts, she just laughed and helped him put everything back together again. Man, his mom had been great.

"Hey, earth to Leo." Jason shook Leo's shoulder lightly. Ahead of them, Frank and Percy were studying the Greek Myth Café sign. "You still with us?"

Leo blinked quickly and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Yeah, sorry. Just got distracted. I, uh, used to live pretty close to here."

Jason's look was understanding. "Thinking about your mom?"

Leo nodded. "It's weird being back. I wasn't expecting it to hit me so hard."

Jason squeezed Leo's shoulder just as Percy called out, "Hey, guys, I think we found something."

The two of them hurried to join Frank and Percy. A few feet from the restaurant entrance was what looked like a service door. "Are we delivering something?" Leo asked.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Watch this."

He placed his hand on the door. Nothing happened. Leo was just getting ready to make a smart remark when suddenly green light glowed from beneath Percy's fingers. He took his hand away to reveal a symbol shimmering against the tan door.

"It's a labyrinth," Leo observed. "Like Pasiphae's necklace."

"Yep," Percy said grimly. "That's not a good sign. It used to be the mark of Daedalus."

"Do you think that means Pasiphae is controlling the maze?" Jason asked.

"But Hazel killed her," Frank protested.

"And Piper killed Khione and I sent Medusa to Tartarus five years ago," Percy said. "The dead aren't doing a very good job at staying dead. Uh, present company excluded. Sorry, Leo."

Leo shrugged. "It's cool. I'm more worried about how we're supposed to find the girls once we get back into the maze."

"No idea," Percy admitted. "But, on the plus side, my sword came back!" He held out his magic ballpoint pen.

"So we now have one weapon between four of us," Jason said.

"That beats zero," Frank pointed out.

"It'll have to be good enough," Leo said. "We're wasting time. We'll just have to take our chances with the maze."

"Valdez is right." Percy pulled open the door, revealing nothing but darkness beyond. The four of them stared into the maze.

"Maybe we'll have some good luck," Jason suggested.

"Yeah," Frank muttered, "that sounds like us."

Leo grinned as he summoned a ball of flames into his hand for light. "You never know, Zhang. There's a first time for everything."

* * *

The Labyrinth was even more disconcerting and frightening than Leo could have imagined. It was like being in the House of Hades, except ten times worse because they didn't have Hazel for a leader and the Labyrinth seemed to be deliberately trying to confuse them. They stumbled on the same cave-like room three times and each time Leo had no idea how they ended up there. He had a horrible feeling they were simply blundering around in circles, but he didn't say that. Group morale was already low; no reason to make things worse.

And then, in a room filled with mirrors, like one of those carnival funhouses (which Leo had never found all that fun), they ran into Narcissus.

"You have got to be kidding me," Leo muttered under his breath.

Narcissus looked like he'd lost weight since the Great Salt Lake, but his hollowed cheeks just made him look even more attractive, like a half-starved model. However, when he spotted Leo over his shoulder in the mirror, his eyes blazed with anger. Very attractively, of course.

"You!" Narcissus whirled around. "You're the one. You stole me!"

Leo held up his hands. "Misunderstanding, man. And I'm really sorry about that, but we don't have time for the crazy right now. Go, go, go," he hissed at his friends, who began backing away towards the door they had come through.

"You stole me," Narcissus repeated. He lunged forward and grabbed Leo's shirt. "GIVE ME BACK!"

"Dude, you have _issues_." Leo looked around at his friends. "A little help here?"

Percy drew his sword. "We're leaving. Let him go, Narcissus."

"I WANT ME BACK! GIVE ME BACK TO ME!"

"You're already here!" Leo yelled in exasperation. He pointed to the mirrors surrounding them. "Look! You're there, and there, and there. Go check yourself out."

"What?" Narcissus's mad eyes swiveled to the mirrors. He caught a glimpse of his own reflection. He sighed and released Leo. "Oh, there I am."

Narcissus moved slowly forward like a sleepwalker and knelt in front of the nearest mirror. "I am so perfect."

"And I am so out of here," Leo said quietly. He led the way back into another corridor, leaving Narcissus to gaze himself to death behind them. Briefly, Leo wondered what had happened to Echo, the cursed nymph determined to save Narcissus. Maybe, he hoped, she had found a less self-absorbed guy to love. He made a mental note to ask around about her, assuming they ever got out of this maze.

They had barely gone a hundred feet (or at least Leo thought it was about a hundred feet, but distance was hard to judge in the maze) when a roar shook the tunnel they were in, so loud that dust fell from the stone ceiling.

"What in Zeus's name was that?" Jason asked.

Percy gulped. "I know that roar."

A figure appeared at the end of the corridor, a horribly misshapen figure, with a massive head attached to a ripped, muscular body. Leo's stomach tried to somersault out of his mouth. "Is that—"

"The Minotaur?" Frank finished for him.

The Minotaur roared and Leo thought, _Of course, it's the Labyrinth. Naturally, the Minotaur is in here_. And then the monster charged and Leo's thoughts took on a more high-pitched tone.

Frank and Jason backed up hastily, but Percy just looked resigned as he drew his sword. "Do I really have to kill you _again_ , Beef Breath?"

Apparently the answer to that was a resounding _yes_ as the Minotaur lowered his head, horns pointing directly at the demigods. He was coming forward like a Mack truck with no brakes. Leo figured Percy was either confident or suicidal as he stood in the middle of the tunnel, sword raised, waiting for the monster to come to him.

Just before the Minotaur skewered him, Percy sliced upward, driving his sword into the Minotaur's chest. The poor monster barely had time for one confused, "Moo?" before he burst into dust.

Jason, Frank, and Leo gaped at Percy, who shrugged, seemingly unfazed. "I've had a lot of practice killing that guy."

They ran into one more old friend down another corridor, this one lined with wooden ties like an old mine. The ghostly form of Michael Varus shimmered into existence in front of them and drove a phantom sword through Jason's chest several times, yelling "Die, Roman traitor!"

"Wow, give it up already." Jason rolled his eyes as he brushed past Varus, whose vaporous sword was doing absolutely no damage this time around.

They reached a new room, this one with eight tunnels branching off in different directions. All four of them were sweaty and covered in dust and grime. Leo's heart was racing, but from nerves. They had been down here gods knew how long and they were still no closer to finding the girls and Chrysaor.

"Which way?" Percy asked desperately, spinning in a circle.

Frank shook his head. "No idea. Or maybe it doesn't even matter. We have no idea how to navigate this stupid maze."

Leo opened his mouth, but he never got to speak. A sudden, horribly familiar chill settled on the back of his neck. Percy shuddered. At the same moment, Jason gasped. Fog shrouded Leo's mind, but through the haze he registered that Jason and Percy's eyes had turned golden. That seemed wrong, somehow, but he wasn't sure why. And then a voice that was not his own took over.

"Yes," it boomed from Leo's mouth. "At last."

"Yes," Jason and Percy echoed in strange, hollow voices. Their faces were blank and pale, like hard masks had settled over their features. "We have returned."

Frank backed into the wall, his own face a mask of horror.

"We are the eidolons," Leo said, in perfect harmony with Jason and Percy. "We will live again."

* * *

 *****Quick note: everything about Houston in this chapter is true. That church really does have a labyrinth design. And there really is a Greek Myth Café, in a building right off of Jackson Street. Once I found that, I had to put it in here. Thanks for reading! Next chapter, featuring what happened with the girls, will be up soon.*****


	9. Chapter VIII: Piper

*****Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I feel the need to add a very quick note about the content of this chapter: although there is a brief point where it is implied that things may go in a very dark direction, this story (and all my stories) will stay within Rick Riordan's levels of language, content, and violence, which means nothing explicit or graphic. And most of this chapter consists of the girls kicking booty and solving problems. Hope you enjoy this chapter—next one should be up in a couple days.*****

* * *

 **VIII. PIPER**

Piper was trying not to freak out as the gorgons and Chrysaor marched her and her friends down a stainless steel corridor lit with fluorescent bulbs. They went through the single doorway at the end, which led into another corridor, this one lined with marble blocks the size of compact cars. Hazel gasped. Piper glanced at her, but Hazel just shook her head, which Piper understood to mean they would talk later. Their first priority was to get away from the monsters.

Annabeth struggled in Chrysaor's grip and he pressed his sword harder against her throat. "Fighting is useless. I would hate to have to spill your blood too soon, Annabeth Chase." The tone of Chrysaor's voice made Piper's skin crawl. It was almost as repulsive as the gorgon's talons, which were squeezing her arms so hard Piper was losing feeling in her fingers.

 _The gorgons_ , Piper thought. _If we can get rid of them, we'll have a better chance in a fight_. Even though she had seen firsthand last summer just how good of a swordsman Chrysaor was, there was a chance they could take him if it was three on one. Of course, it would help if they had their swords, too. But one problem at a time. First, they had to get rid of the gorgons and fighting wasn't going to work. They needed Chrysaor to send Euryale and Stheno away. He needed to think the girls were no threat, that he could handle them alone.

Piper went limp in Stheno's grasp. Tapping into the fear and frustration she felt, she forced tears into her eyes and whimpered, "P-please don't hurt us."

Stheno stumbled and Piper took the opportunity to drop to her knees, halting the entire group. She covered her face with her hands and did her best fake sobbing. "I'm so scared. Please, Mr. Chrysaor, please don't hurt us."

Through her fingers, she could see Annabeth and Hazel gaping at her like they thought she'd lost her mind. Piper tried to give them a look, which was hard to do while she was still pretending to cry. But they must have gotten the idea because Hazel suddenly shrieked, as if in pain, and whined, "You're hurting my arms. Stop it!" She, too, went limp, causing her gorgon captor, Euryale, to hiss in annoyance.

Annabeth still had Chrysaor's sword at her throat, so she couldn't move, but she but on a very contrite look and said, "I'm sorry for struggling, Chrysaor. I'll come quietly, I promise. Just, please, don't hurt my friends."

Piper was still pretending to sob, and now Hazel turned on the fake tears, too. It was a pretty good show of weakness. Anyone who knew them probably wouldn't have been fooled for a second, but Chrysaor seemed to be buying the act. His golden mask tilted as he studied the girls. Piper remembered Pluto's advice to Hazel: _The dead see what they_ believe _they will see. The same is true of the living_. This was exactly what Chrysaor expected to see: three weak little girls, cowering before him. It wasn't much of an advantage, Piper thought, but it was something.

"Euryale, Stheno, get them up. We're almost to my quarters. Come quietly, demigods, and I promise I won't hurt you." Chrysaor sheathed his sword as a show of good faith and Annabeth's shoulders relaxed slightly.

Piper figured the guy's promise was worth less than the dirt she was kneeling on, but it was a start. Acting weak didn't come naturally to Piper, and she knew it had to be hard for Annabeth and Hazel, but the ruse was working. Piper and Hazel kept up the fake crying as the gorgons dragged them down the tunnel, Chrysaor in the lead tugging Annabeth along, who went meekly.

When they reached a wooden door set into the stone wall, Chrysaor opened it to reveal a long, rectangular room with a bed, piles of gold coins and jewels (probably plunder from Chrysaor's days as a pirate), and a hodge-podge of weapons, including, Piper's own sword, as well as her friends' weapons.

"Tie them up over there," Chrysaor ordered the gorgons. The monstrous women hauled Hazel and Piper over to a set of iron rings screwed into the wall and tied their still-bound wrists to the rings, which left the two of them standing against the wall with their arms in the air; the rings were almost two feet above their heads. Chrysaor shoved Annabeth at Euryale, who bound her the same way, next to Piper.

"Should we go back for the boys?" Euryale asked.

Chrysaor shook his head. "Report to Medusa. Tell her we have the demigods and ask her what she wants us to do with them next. Find out if we need to take them straight to the sacrifice site, or if there is time for—other things."

Piper's stomach was doing flip-flops as the gorgons scurried out the door. With the gorgons gone, they only had to defeat Chrysaor, but she still had no idea how to do that. As Chrysaor unbuckled his sword belt and tossed it onto a nearby pile of weapons, she realized that they were running short on time.

"What's your feeling?" Annabeth whispered to Piper as Chrysaor approached.

"Not good," Piper whispered back. "You have a plan?"

"No good one."

"I have an idea," Hazel breathed.

But before she could elaborate, Chrysaor snapped, "Silence."

All three of them faced him. Chyrsaor's solid golden armor glimmered in the dim light. The only parts of him that were uncovered were his biceps and his knees. He studied the three girls like they were his birthday presents, which made Piper want to scream and kick something, preferably Chrysaor.

He stopped in front of Annabeth and ran a finger down her cheek again. "Such a thrill to steal my brother's favorite possession."

Annabeth jerked away from him. "I'm nobody's possession, Chrysaor."

He tried to touch her again and she aimed a kick at his shins. Chrysaor chuckled. "So much fire. I like that."

Piper gritted her teeth. "It's the twenty-first century, moron. Women are people, not things."

Chrysaor's golden gloved hand lashed out. The strike came so suddenly, Piper didn't even have time to brace herself. Chrysaor backhanded her across the face so hard she would have fallen if her wrists weren't chained. Piper's ears rang. Her vision went blurry. She tasted blood.

"Piper!" Annabeth said.

"Hey, _Golden Boy_." Hazel's voice was laced with contempt.

"Yes?" Behind the mask, Piper was sure Chrysaor was smirking. Of course, it was difficult to tell with her head spinning.

Hazel's golden eyes were practically glowing with fury. "For future reference, idiot, you shouldn't wear an all-gold outfit around a girl who can control precious metals."

"What are you—" Chrysaor's voice cut off in a strangled scream.

Hazel clenched her fists and Chrysaor's armor crumbled. His mask, breastplate, greaves, everything, contracted like a smashed soda can. The gold collapsed, squeezing him tighter and tighter. Chrysaor's screams reached soprano pitch. Hazel twisted her hands and the metal screeched, compressing Chrysaor until he finally burst into dust.

It wasn't pretty, but Piper didn't feel any guilt. She was just glad he was gone.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked Piper.

Honestly, Piper was still dizzy, but she swallowed back her nausea and said, "Yeah. I'll be fine."

"Hazel," Annabeth's eyes were wide, "that was amazing. Terrifying, but amazing."

Hazel was breathing hard. Her eyes were still blazing. "He deserved it. I would have done that sooner, but he had that sword at your throat. I was afraid I'd accidentally hurt you."

"Thanks," Annabeth said. "Can you get us out of these ropes?"

"I think so." Hazel focused on a nearby pile of weapons. Jason's Imperial gold sword rose from the top and zoomed over to her, nearly impaling Hazel in the stomach. "Oops. Need to work on my control."

Hazel levitated the sword to cut herself free, then grabbed it and used it the normal way to cut the ropes on Piper and Annabeth's wrists. Once she was free, Piper leaned against the wall and waited for her knees to stop shaking. Her head was pounding and she spat blood onto the floor.

"Split lip," Annabeth observed. She handed Piper a square of ambrosia.

"Thanks." Piper took the godly food gladly; it tasted like her dad's black bean soup, which was always guaranteed to make her feel better. Sure enough, as the three of them gathered up their own weapons, and the boys' things (including Leo's tool belt), the throbbing in Piper's cheek began to diminish and her lip started to heal itself.

"What now?" Piper asked after she strapped on her own sword and tucked Jason's into her belt. She buckled Leo's tool belt around her waist, too.

"We have to get back to the guys." Annabeth slipped Percy's pen into her pocket, though they'd all agreed it was alarming that the monsters' magic was keeping it from returning to its owner. "They're probably freaking out."

"I don't think it's going to be that simple." Hazel had Frank's bow and arrows slung over her shoulders. "I realized something on our way here—those aren't just tunnels." She took a deep breath. "We're in the Labyrinth."

"Come again?" Piper said.

"The Labyrinth," Hazel repeated. "Pasiphae told me she was remaking it. Medusa must be using it now."

Annabeth cursed in Ancient Greek. "So we might not be able to find our way back to the guys?"

Hazel shrugged helplessly. "I'm not sure. I'll do my best, but it's hard to judge distance. I was trying on the way here, but I can sense the maze constantly changing. It's really disorienting."

"You can do it, Hazel." Piper added just a touch of charmspeak to her voice. "We have faith in you."

"Definitely," Annabeth agreed, though she still looked worried. "Lead the way."

Piper wasn't sure what to expect when they stepped back into the Labyrinth, but the maze still managed to surprise her.

Annabeth frowned. "This looks like the exact same corridor that led out of that circular room."

It did. It was the exact same stainless steel tunnel, with buzzing fluorescent lights casting an irritatingly bright light. There was only one door, set into the very end of the hallway.

"Well, I'm guessing that's the way to go," Piper offered.

Hazel's forehead wrinkled in concern. "Something strange is behind that door. It doesn't feel like the maze."

"We'll just have to be ready." Annabeth gripped the hilt of her drakon bone sword. "Let's go."

Piper's nerves were mounting as they approached the door. Hazel pushed it open and Piper's eyes were dazzled by—sunlight?

Warm, almost balmy, air washed over her, along with the sounds of a city. But it couldn't possibly be New York; it had been snowing at her dad's apartment. As Piper's eyes adjusted to the light, she looked around and realized they were _definitely_ not in New York.

"Where are we?" Annabeth asked, taking in the brightly colored buildings, the intricate ironwork railings, and the bustle of people.

Hazel's eyes were as wide as drachmas. "This is the French Quarter. We're in New Orleans."

"Holy Hera," Piper muttered. "How did we get here?"

"No idea," Annabeth said, "but we're not getting back the way we came."

"What do you mean?" Piper turned quickly to look for the door they had come through, but it was gone. They were standing in the middle of a park, beside a bronze statue of a man on a horse. In front of them, a massive cathedral dominated the square, its snowy white façade gleaming in the sunlight. Piper recognized it from a trip she'd taken with her dad years ago. "That's St. Louis Cathedral. We're in Jackson Square."

" _Jackson_ Square?" Annabeth said.

"Named after Andrew Jackson, the president." Piper shaded her eyes so she could look up at the bronze statue. "I think that's him on the horse."

Annabeth studied the statue, as if she was afraid it would come to life. "But why did we end up here?"

A sob interrupted their conversation. Both of them turned to Hazel, who now had real tears in her eyes. She hastily tried to wipe them away. "I'm sorry. It's just, I wasn't expecting—I haven't been back to New Orleans since 1942." Her voice broke and she covered her face with her hands.

"Oh, Hazel." Piper hugged her friend. Hazel was shaking. She didn't break down easily, but Piper couldn't imagine what it must be like to return to her hometown after all this time.

After a minute or so, Hazel drew a shaky breath. "Thanks, Piper. I'll be okay. It was just a shock."

"Totally understandable." Annabeth patted Hazel's back. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Good enough." Hazel gave them a watery smile. "So, how do we get back into the maze?"

"Good question." Annabeth frowned as she studied the bronze Andrew Jackson again. She placed her hand against the statue's base, but nothing happened. "If this were an entrance into the Labyrinth, the mark of Daedalus would appear. But nothing's happening. I think the maze let us out, but we'll have to find another way back in."

"How do we do that?" Piper asked.

"We'll just have to walk around and keep our eyes open." Annabeth glanced at Hazel, who was still pulling herself together. "Hazel, can you think of anywhere in New Orleans that has some relation to Greek mythology? That might be a good place to start."

Hazel thought for a moment. "The Garden District. It's about two miles away, but some of the streets are named after the Muses and there's a lot of Greek architecture there."

Annabeth's eyes lit up. "Oh, I recognize that name! The Garden District was the center of the Greek Revival in New Orleans. It's supposed to be beautiful."

Piper laughed. "Let's check it out. And keep our eyes open, like you said. Maybe we'll find a Labyrinth entrance along the way."

They wove their way through the crowds on the narrow streets. All three of them were anxious to get back into the maze and find the guys, but they did make a very quick stop for beignets and lemonade at a small café. They ate the beignets as they continued down the street.

Hazel took a bite and closed her eyes. "This beignet tastes exactly the way it did seventy years ago."

An older mortal couple walking past gave her a very strange look, then hurried away up the street. Piper hid her smile by taking a bite of her own beignet. It was fried crisp and the flavors of chocolate and cinnamon exploded on her tongue. "Delicious."

"When something is this good, they don't need to change the recipe for decades," Annabeth agreed.

"I can't believe we're in New Orleans," Hazel marveled. "Everything feels familiar, but it's not the same city. It's so _modern_."

Personally, Piper found the French Quarter to be quaint and charming, but people walking past were carrying smartphones, flat-screen televisions could be seen in some of the restaurants, and skyscrapers rose in the distance. To Hazel, the city probably did seem strange, especially if she hadn't been here since the forties.

They didn't end up making it as far as the Garden District. About a mile from Jackson Square they stumbled upon a soaring column, topped by another bronze statue. The column stood alone in the middle of a circle of grass.

"That's a Greek-style column," Annabeth pointed out.

Hazel narrowed her eyes. "There's definitely Mist here, covering something up."

"Let's check it out." Piper led the way across the street. Four massive steps, each about three feet high, made up the base of the column. Piper, Hazel, and Annabeth scrambled up. A car honked on the street behind them and Piper wondered briefly if they weren't supposed to stand on the monument. But it didn't matter. The moment Hazel touched one of the limestone blocks that made up the column, a glowing green symbol blazed to life.

Hazel breathed in sharply. "That looks just like the necklace Pasiphae was wearing in the House of Hades. It's a labyrinth."

"That's not good." Annabeth was looking at the symbol like it was painful. "The symbol used to be a Greek _delta_ , the mark of Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. If the symbol is Pasiphae's now, it may mean the Labyrinth is under her control."

"We don't have a choice," Piper pointed out. "We have to go back in and find the guys. They're probably completely freaking out by now."

"Or the gorgons went back and took them to Medusa," Hazel said softly.

Piper didn't even want to think about that. "Hazel, how do we open the door?"

"Simple." Hazel pressed against the limestone and the massive block swung inward, like a trapdoor. Beyond it, Piper could see a dirt floor, lined with roots.

Now it was Annabeth's turn for a sharp intake of breath. "I've seen that passage before. It's just like the one Tyson and Grover took, searching for Pan."

"Is that good or bad?" Piper asked.

Annabeth pursed her lips. "I don't know. But the sooner we get through the maze and find the guys, the sooner we can get out."

"Sounds good to me." Hazel squared her shoulders and stepped into the maze. "Careful. About twenty feet in, there's a trap in the floor. We'll have to jump over it."

"What happens if we fall in?" Piper asked as she followed Hazel out of the sunlight and into the cool dampness of the tunnel.

"You'll die," Hazel said simply. "There are spikes lining the bottom of the pit."

Piper's stomach tried to crawl up her throat. "So, just let me know when to jump."

The three of them managed not to die, despite the best efforts of the Labyrinth, which threw traps and obstacles at them every few feet. If it hadn't been for Hazel's flawless underground senses, Piper and Annabeth would have been decapitated by a giant ax or pinned to the stones by metal darts that burst out of the walls. The tunnel changed with no rhyme or reason. First it was the roots, then a marble corridor that looked like something Piper had seen in Rome, then a sewer that reminded her _way_ too much of the ones beneath Athens, followed by another stainless steel corridor like the one Chrysaor had originally dragged them into. That tunnel gave way to a massive cavern, with stalagmites and stalactites the size of skyscrapers.

"Where _are_ we?" Piper gazed around wonderingly. The cavern was incredible, but she didn't understand how this was taking them back to where the guys were. Of course, she also didn't understand how they had ended up in New Orleans in the first place. Piper looked at Annabeth, who was also studying the rock formations. "Was the Labyrinth this twisted the last time you were in it?"

"Honestly, no." A drop of water from a stalactite splashed on Annabeth's nose and she wiped it away. "But last time it was somewhat under Daedalus's control. Maybe he kept it from being quite so…malicious."

"But Pasiphae would want it to be as dangerous as possible," Hazel said over the sound of their footsteps echoing against the damp stone floor. "She loved when I made the maze more perilous in the House of Hades."

That reminded Piper of something. "So, do you think Pasiphae is behind the maze right now? Like, she's working with Medusa and Khione and Nyx?"

Hazel shrugged. "She could be."

"We need to find the guys so we can get out of here and make a plan," Annabeth said. "It's like we have all the pieces, but I still don't understand how they fit together."

"Speaking of not understanding…" Hazel stopped walking and bit her lip. In front of them, three separate tunnels branched off. One was brick, there was another stainless steel tunnel, and a third was hollowed out rock, like an off-shoot of the cavern. "I'm not sure which way we should go."

"Can you tell anything about the tunnels?" Annabeth asked her.

"There's something dark near the end of that one." Hazel pointed to the stainless steel tunnel. "But it may be the quickest route back to the guys. The brick tunnel has several traps just in the first ten feet, so I'd really rather not go that way. And the stone tunnel seems empty, which is weird. But it would eventually take us back to the guys. At least, I'm pretty sure."

"So why don't we try that one?" Annabeth said.

Hazel frowned. "It seems like the logical choice, but I don't know—I have a weird feeling about all three tunnels. And this cavern. I just can't put my finger on what it is."

The hairs on the back of Piper's neck stood up. She understood what Hazel meant. "It feels like we're being watched."

Annabeth gripped the hilt of her sword. "Watched? By who? Piper!"

Piper had crumpled to her knees. It felt like an iron spike was being driven through her brain. As she gripped her head, her first thought was that she was having a delayed reaction to Chrysaor hitting her. But then a blissful, pain-free feeling came over her. Piper felt like she was floating in a cloud; even her vision became foggy. Piper rose to her feet, dazedly grateful that the pain was gone. A tiny part of her was terrified, though, at the realization that she was no longer in control of her body. It felt like someone else forced her to stand.

Just as Piper stood, Hazel gasped and dropped her sword, doubling over with her hands pressed against her temples. When she straightened back up, her eyes were gold. Her eyes were always gold, of course, but usually a warm, soft gold. Now they were hard and cold. Something about her expression didn't look quite right, but Piper didn't have time to decide what was wrong. The someone else controlling Piper's body turned her to face Annabeth. Piper wondered vaguely what was so terrifying as she watched all the blood drain from her friend's face.

Annabeth's hand clenched around her sword, but she didn't draw it. Her expression was horrified. "Piper? Hazel?"

Piper laughed in a voice that was not her own; it was too deep and booming. "We have returned. At last."


	10. Chapter IX: Annabeth

**IX. ANNABETH**

Annabeth thought she knew terror. She thought she'd faced the worst of it beneath Rome, in Tartarus, in the Temple of Fear in Sparta. But nothing compared to stumbling alone through the Labyrinth, the image of her friends' golden eyes burned into her brain. She wanted to stay and help Piper and Hazel, but when they raised their swords she had no choice but to run; there was no way she could fight both of them at once.

She sprinted for the stainless steel tunnel. Yes, Hazel had said there was something dark down that tunnel, but she'd also said it was the quickest way back to the guys. And Annabeth had to find the boys so that hopefully they could help Hazel and Piper. She tried not to think about the fact that the eidolons had only been repelled last time because of Piper's charmspeak.

But as she rounded a bend in the tunnel and saw what lay ahead, every other thought went out of Annabeth's mind. She froze, unable to believe her eyes. Her voice was weak as she said, "Luke?"

His form was vaporous, but it was definitely Luke. The same blond hair, the same blue eyes, the same scar. He was blocking the corridor in front of her, arms crossed, wearing a very angry expression. "How could you let this happen, Annabeth?"

"Wh-what?" she stammered, taking a step back.

"You failed your friends again, just like you failed me." Luke took a step forward, his eyes blazing with anger. "I trusted you. We all trusted you. HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME?"

"I-I didn't." Somewhere in her numb brain, Annabeth realized this wasn't really Luke. It was a shadow, almost a _mania_. That thought gave her the courage to say, "I never betrayed you. _You_ betrayed _me_. And you're not Luke. Now get out of my way!"

She shoved past the image of Luke, which wailed and reached for her, but its vaporous hands couldn't grab her. Choking back a sob, Annabeth jogged away down the corridor, the howls of the _mania_ ringing in her ears.

The tunnel turned into a limestone shaft, sloped like a mine shaft and slippery with moisture. Then the floor became marble, the walls lined with frescoes. After that was another corridor lined with tree roots. Annabeth nearly died a dozen times from traps in the walls and floor. She felt seven years old again, stumbling alone and terrified through the Cyclops's mansion. She reached for Riptide in her pocket, just for the comfort of a familiar object, but the pen was gone; it must have returned to Percy when she wasn't paying attention. _Which probably means he's not tied up in that room anymore_ , Annabeth thought with relief. She put on a new surge of speed to avoid being barbecued as flames shot from the ceiling of the maze. If she could just find the guys, they could figure out a way to save Piper and Hazel from the eidolons.

Annabeth emerged into a new tunnel, this one narrow and crooked, with rough walls and the damp smell of a cave. She drew her sword, keeping it in front of her as she made her way through the twisting tunnel. The tunnel was empty for the first hundred feet, but then Annabeth came around a bend and saw a familiar figure standing with his back to her in the middle of the corridor.

Relief surged through Annabeth as she recognized the dark hair, the stance, the t-shirt. "Percy!"

He turned to face her and ice flooded Annabeth's veins.

His eyes were pure gold.

"No," she whispered. Her sword suddenly felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, dragging her arm down.

Percy's face was pale, his expression hard and cold as he took a step towards her.

"This isn't real," Annabeth said weakly. "It's a trick, like with Luke."

Percy gave a deep, booming laugh that sounded nothing like his own. His voice echoed strangely as he said, "This is no trick, Annabeth Chase. We, the eidolons, have returned, in even greater numbers. We will destroy you worthless demigods, in the name of the Dark Lady!"

Annabeth's knees were shaking, but she forced her voice to stay steady as she asked, "Where are Jason, Frank, and Leo?"

"That does not matter," said the eidolon controlling Percy. He drew Riptide from his pocket and uncapped it. The sword sprang to life. "Prepare to die, Annabeth Chase."

Had Annabeth thought things were bad before? Nothing, _nothing_ , could possibly be worse than this, watching her boyfriend walk toward her with his sword raised, the expression on his face positively evil.

Annabeth had no choice but to parry the attack as Percy, no, as the _eidolon_ controlling Percy, swung the sword at her. However, she didn't go on the offensive; she did just enough to keep herself alive, but it was hard. The eidolon had all of Percy's skill. Within seconds, the eidolon had backed Annabeth into a crevice in the rock. She had nowhere to go.

The eidolon hissed. "Trapped, daughter of Athena. Now—"

Percy grunted and doubled over like he'd been punched in the gut. When he stood up, his eyes were flickering between gold and sea-green. He braced himself with one hand against the stone wall, his face contorted with pain. "Annabeth—"

His voice was hoarse, but it was his own. Her heart leapt. "Percy, are you—"

"Annabeth." Percy gripped her arm; his eyes were rapidly flickering from green to gold. "You need to get out of here."

"What? I'm not leaving you!"

"You have to. I can't—" Percy winced and his eyes turned solid gold again for a moment, before returning to green. "I can't hold the eidolon back for long. Please. Get out of here."

Annabeth wanted to sob. She felt like her heart was breaking. It was Mount St. Helens all over again. But, like then, she knew he was right, as much as she hated it. She locked eyes with him. "I love you. I'll find you. Promise."

Percy nodded just as his eyes returned to solid gold. The eidolon snarled. Annabeth ducked under Percy's arm and raced away down the tunnel, wiping tears from her cheeks as the hideous laughter of the eidolon echoed off the stones.

She lost track of how much time passed as she dodged traps and ducked down one endless corridor after another. She had no real destination in mind; she had no idea how to help her friends. The only thing she could think to do was to keep moving. And pray.

In a corridor lined with marble blocks the size of compact cars, she whipped around a corner and ran smack into something large and solid. When she regained her balance, Annabeth realized the large, solid something she had run into was Frank Zhang. And his eyes were normal brown.

"Annabeth?" Frank said incredulously.

"Frank! Thank the gods!" Annabeth was so relieved, she threw her arms around the big guy, who seemed just as happy to see her.

"Where's Hazel?" Frank asked. "And Piper?"

Annabeth fought down a sob. "Eidolons."

The color drained out of Frank's face. "Oh, no."

"They got the guys, too, didn't they?"

Frank nodded. His hands clenched into fists. "How did you know?"

"I ran into Percy." Annabeth's voice broke, but she forced herself to stay in control. "He—he held it back just long enough for me to get away, but…"

"We'll figure it out." Frank gripped her shoulders. "We just need to make a plan. There has to be a way to save them."

Annabeth swiped her hand over her eyes. "First we need to find them. They're probably all over the maze. We should—"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," a new voice interrupted. "Your friends are all in one place."

From around the corner, Euryale and Stheno appeared, grinning horribly with their boar-tusked mouths.

"And they're waiting for you," Stheno finished with a crazed giggle.

Before Frank or Annabeth could react, the gorgons lunged forward and had their claws at the demigods' throats.

"We'll take you to them," Euryale hissed in Annabeth's ear. The gorgon reeked of snakes. "Right this way."

The gorgons marched Frank and Annabeth down several more corridors, stopping before a massive bronze door set into the wall. Stheno opened the door and Euryale shoved the demigods through with a cackle.

When she saw what was waiting on the other side of the door, Annabeth wanted to curl up on the floor and cry. They were in a massive room with obsidian walls. Greek-style columns carved out of the pure black stone lined the edges of the room. Perched on a dais in the middle of the floor was a throne made of the same obsidian as the columns. A woman wearing a long black veil that covered her face was seated upon the throne. And on either side of her stood Percy, Piper, Hazel, Jason, and Leo, weapons drawn, faces pale, eyes golden. Frank's jaw clenched. Annabeth didn't give into despair easily, but at that moment, she nearly did. Especially when the woman on the throne rose and said, "Welcome, Frank Zhang. And Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena—it has been far too long."

Medusa.


	11. Chapter X: Frank

*****Happy Birthday to Percy! And happy** _ **Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes**_ **publication day! I've been reading through my copy…the illustrations are beautiful! And the stories are awesome, as usual.**

 **Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed this story! Hope you enjoy this chapter!*****

* * *

 **CHAPTER X: FRANK**

Frank had been in a lot of bad situations, but this one was quickly rising to the top of the list. He and Annabeth stood alone in the middle of the room, facing two gorgons and Medusa, the freaking evil monster queen of Greek mythology. And, oh yeah, just to make things interesting, their five friends were possessed by eidolons, so there was a good chance Frank was going to get his head lopped off by his own girlfriend. That thought made Frank angry. Not at Hazel, of course, but at the eidolons for possessing her and the rest of his friends. His hands curled into fists at his sides.

"What do you want?" he snarled at Medusa. "Why did you bring us here?"

She turned her veiled face toward him. A hiss rippled through the air. "I would have thought that was obvious, Frank Zhang. I have brought you here at the request of my mistress."

"Your mistress," Annabeth said. "You mean Nyx?"

Medusa's voice became smug and Frank was pretty sure she was smirking beneath her veil. "Very good, daughter of Athena. But you were always intelligent."

Medusa stepped forward. Jason, Percy, Hazel, Piper, and Leo moved with her in such perfect synchronicity it was eerie.

"Yes, with the help of the snow goddess and the last of the great Titans, the goddess of night will rise." Medusa's eyes, the only visible part of her, sparkled with a malicious light. "She awaits only the blood of heroes to secure her rise."

Frank groaned. "Not this psycho babble again."

Annabeth drew her sword. "No one is using my blood. Not this time."

"You cannot stop Night." Medusa's soft voice made Frank's eyes heavy. "Gaea thought to wake using the blood of only two, one boy and one girl. But Nyx knows better. By using the blood of the seven greatest heroes of the age, proclaimed as such by Hera, the queen of heaven herself, Nyx will be unstoppable. Night will fall on Olympus."

"Faster than the prices at Bargain Mart," Stheno chimed in.

Euryale shrieked in fury. "You idiot!"

Frank blinked. Suddenly, he didn't feel as sleepy. Medusa must have been working an enchantment with her voice. As the gorgons continued to shriek at each other about Bargain Mart, Frank leaned closer to Annabeth. "Any ideas?"

She moistened her lips. "We need to knock them out."

"The gorgons?"

"No. We're sending them back to Tartarus. I meant the others." She nodded at their friends, all with glassy golden eyes, pale faces, and drawn swords (or, in Leo's case, fistfuls of fire). "Remember last summer? After Leo, and Percy and Jason, were knocked unconscious, it briefly subdued the eidolons."

"Oh yeah." Frank began to understand her plan. "So we knock out our friends, then take down the gorgons?"

Annabeth nodded. "And hope that the others come back around as themselves."

"How're we going to get rid of the eidolons permanently, though?" Frank asked. "Last time, Piper used her charmspeak, but if she's possessed…"

"I don't know. We'll have to figure it out." Annabeth gripped the hilt of her sword. "But first things first. You want to take the guys and I'll get the girls?"

"Oh gods." Frank swallowed. Jason, Percy, and Leo were pretty formidable opponents. But Annabeth had the right idea. No way Frank wanted to hit his girlfriend, or Piper, even if it was to save all their lives. And he guessed Annabeth didn't really want to hit Percy. "Okay."

"Take down Leo first," she advised. "He's the most dangerous."

It seemed funny to say since Jason and Percy were standing next to Valdez, but Frank knew she was right. With his fire abilities, an eidolon possessing Leo could wreak a lot of havoc.

"SILENCE!" Medusa screamed, making Frank and Annabeth jump. But her veiled face was turned to her sisters. Medusa took a threatening step toward Stheno, then hissed, "I swear on Olympus itself, if I hear the words 'Bargain Mart' _one more time_ , I will throw you back into Tartarus myself."

Stheno pouted, her lower lip jutting out between her boar's tusks. "I'm just telling the truth. They really do have the lowest, rock-bottom prices in the—"

"GAH!" Medusa's hand lashed out, smacking her sister across the face. The gorgons began screaming at each other again, and Frank saw an opening.

"Now," he whispered.

Annabeth moved immediately. Before the eidolons realized what was happening, she'd disarmed Hazel and brought her sword hilt down on the younger girl's head. Hazel collapsed.

Frank's chest hurt, but he had to focus on his own mission. He didn't have any weapons, though, so he'd have to change into something. As the eidolon controlling Piper snarled and engaged Annabeth, Frank transformed into a grizzly bear and charged toward the guys.

One swipe of his paw was like a hit from a heavyweight boxer. He smacked Leo in the back of the head and the son of Hephaestus crumpled. One down, though Frank didn't feel good about it. He felt even less good as Jason and Percy raised their swords, grinning creepily with those golden eyes.  
Frank managed to hold his own for a few minutes. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Annabeth fighting Piper. The daughter of Aphrodite was smiling sweetly as she sliced and jabbed, but the expression looked all wrong with her golden eidolon eyes.

"You don't want to hurt me." The deep voice of the eidolon was laced with Piper's charmspeak. "Just lay down your weapon."

Annabeth's sword arm dipped and Piper struck, sweeping the flat of her blade to the side and knocking Annabeth off her feet. Frank roared, too far away to help, but Annabeth rolled and was back on her feet. She caught Piper's next strike on her drakon bone blade.

Meanwhile, on the dais, the gorgons had forgotten their own argument. Now they were cackling and cheering, watching the demigods fight each other. Frank grit his teeth—or, he would have, if he hadn't still been a bear.

Jason stumbled, as if the eidolon wasn't totally used to controlling a body, and Frank pounced. He brought his massive paw down on Jason's head so hard his glasses were knocked off and the son of Jupiter hit the floor face first. Oops. Frank realized he needed to watch his strength so he didn't accidentally hurt his friends badly.

Suddenly, a burst of red hot agony exploded in Frank's leg. He bellowed in pain. Looking down, he saw that Percy had sliced a wide gash in his furry back leg. Frank fell to his knees. Without intending to, he turned back to human.

Percy loomed over him, his face pale and cruel, completely un-Percy-like. Frank struggled to rise, but his injured leg wouldn't support his weight. He could no longer hear Annabeth's fight with Piper. Even the cackling of the gorgons seemed to have faded to a low drone. All of Frank's attention was on Percy as the eidolon controlling him raised Riptide for a killing blow.

Then Frank heard a dull thud. Percy's eyes rolled back in his head. He fell to his knees, then slumped to the floor, his sword falling out of his limp hand.

Behind him stood Annabeth, breathing hard, sword hilt still raised from smacking Percy. Her gray eyes were thunderstorm dark. She held out a hand to help Frank up. He scrambled to grab Percy's sword as he rose to his feet, all his weight on his uninjured leg. Together, he and Annabeth faced the three gorgons, who gaped at them.

Annabeth didn't leave the gorgons any time to recover. "Go back to Tartarus and tell Nyx she'll never get our blood." She lunged forward and drove her sword straight through Medusa's chest.

The gorgon wailed, then her robes fell in a heap on the floor; Medusa was gone.

Euryale and Stheno nearly tripped over themselves backing away as Annabeth advanced. Frank couldn't move much, but he stood behind her with Riptide raised, trying to look threatening.

Several groans issued from the demigods on the floor. Frank didn't turn to look, but it sounded like his friends were coming around.

Euryale must have been thinking along those lines. Her eyes darted around the room, then she forced a final snarl. "This isn't over, demigods."

Annabeth swung her sword. It should have sliced the gorgon in half, but just before the blade touched her, Euryale evaporated into shadows. Stheno, too, disappeared. The fight was over, at least for now.

* * *

Within a few minutes, the other demigods were conscious and coherent again (with the help of a little ambrosia). Hazel, her eyes returned to their normal, much prettier gold, trickled nectar on Frank's leg. He sucked in a breath as it stung, but the wound began to heal immediately. "Thanks. Are you okay?"

"Bit of a headache, but otherwise, fine." She kissed his cheek.

Percy, who still looked a little cross-eyed, rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I second the headache thing." He shot Annabeth a sideways look. "I mean, geez, first Blackjack, now you. Can't trust anybody."

She laced her fingers through his. "You were about to kill Frank. That would have hurt a lot worse."

"True." Percy gave Frank an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, man."

"It's cool," Frank replied, even though his leg still hurt. "That wasn't you."

"Definitely not," Percy agreed.

Jason had put his glasses back on. "I know you guys didn't have a choice, but have I mentioned how much I _hate_ being hit on the head?"

That made them all laugh, albeit a little ruefully.

"It was a good plan, though," Piper said. The knot on her forehead where Annabeth had smacked her with her sword hilt was slowly fading, thanks to the ambrosia. "Although I don't think the eidolons are gone yet."

"Probably not," Annabeth admitted. "But we had to try and get you guys back on our side, not the gorgons'."

"Yeah," Frank said. "Knocking everyone out wasn't exactly something we wanted to do, though."

"Don't lie, man." Leo rubbed the back of his head where Frank had hit him. "You've been wanting to do that to me since we met."

Frank grinned ruefully. "Well, maybe a little."

Leo chuckled and Frank figured they were okay.

A column of flames erupted near the throne of Medusa and all seven of them reached for their weapons. But the hulking figure who stepped out of the flames wasn't a monster, though Frank almost wished it had been.

It was Mars.

"Oh, great," Percy muttered. Luckily, the war god didn't seem to hear him as he stepped forward. Mars was outfitted in black camo pants, a black tank top, and a leather jacket, with an assault rifle slung over his shoulder and his usual wraparound sunglasses, lit from behind by the atomic fires in his eyes.

The war god's gaze traveled over the assembled demigods before settling on Frank, who nodded stiffly. "Father."

"Hey, kid." Mars walked slowly down the steps and Frank noticed that Percy, Jason, and Annabeth hadn't taken their hands off their weapons. "Looks like I missed a good fight."

"Uh, sure," Frank said. "Can you tell if the eidolons are gone?"

"They're not," Mars said bluntly. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "But that's why I brought her along."

The woman seemed to step out of the shadow of the throne. She had blond hair pulled up in a high ponytail and a silky, black, Greek-style dress. A polecat and a Labrador peeked out from behind her skirt.

"Hecate," Hazel said.

The goddess inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Hello again, Hazel Levesque."

"You can get rid of the eidolons?" Hazel asked.

"I can, though the process may be mildly painful." Hecate held out her hands and a lit torch appeared in each one.

Piper took a step back. "You're going to light us on fire?"

"The flames will purge the spirits," the goddess told her. "You won't be harmed, although you may experience a burning sensation."

That sounded pretty uncomfortable to Frank and he noticed his friends glancing at each other.

"It's either that or you have to walk around with those demons in your heads," Mars growled.

"Well, when you put it like that." Leo rolled his eyes, but he stepped forward. "I'll go first. If something goes wrong, I'm already flame-resistant."

Hecate raised an eyebrow. "Such a vote of confidence. Step forward, son of Hephaestus."

Leo walked up to the goddess. She crossed her torches, then laid the lit ends on Leo's shoulders. Instantly, he was engulfed in flames. Frank braced himself for the screams, but Leo simply shuddered. A black mist, thicker than smoke, rose above the flames, then vanished. The flames died.

Leo looked a little shaken, but he managed a grin. "Not too painful. Especially since my headache's gone now."

One by one, the others stepped forward and Hecate used her torches to expel the eidolons. None of them complained, but it was a relief when the process was over.

"Now that that's done," Mars said as Jason, the last to go, stepped away from Hecate, "we can get down to business. You kids did good getting rid of Medusa. She's a menace, but this was just a taste. The real fight is coming."

Frank exchanged looks with Hazel, then asked, "Can you give us any more information?"

"Yeah, you'll need to go north for this fight," Mars said. "And don't count on any help from Olympus, either. This land is beyond the gods, _way_ outside our territory."

Frank's stomach dropped. He could tell from their stricken looks that Percy and Hazel were thinking the same thing. Frank swallowed hard and said, "Alaska, again?"

But Mars shook his head. "Even farther north, kid."

"Some might even call it the northern corner of the world," Hecate supplied.

The others exchanged bewildered looks, but Frank thought he had a hunch. "The North Pole?"

Mars pointed a finger at him. "Bingo, kid."

"Wait a minute," Annabeth said, "we have to go to the _North Pole_?"

Hecate nodded. "It is the darkest place in the world. In the winter, there is no sunlight. What better place for the goddess of night to rise?"

"And Nyx _will_ rise," Mars added, "unless you kids stop her. Khione and Koios will see to that."

"Koios?" Frank asked. "The Titan of the North?"

Percy winced. "The last time I saw that guy, he was in Tartarus."

"Khione helped him to escape," Hecate informed him. "And now, to avenge both Kronos and Gaea, they plan to raise the darkest goddess, in the darkest place, on the darkest night of the year."

Annabeth paled. "The solstice."

"Exactly," Mars said grimly. "Which means you kids are running out of time. So I suggest you get back into that maze. This girl here," he jerked his thumb at Hazel, "can find the way north. The Labyrinth will take you at least part of the way."

"And after that?" Frank asked warily.

Mars shrugged. "After that, you're on your own, kid. Figure it out. Medusa was right about one thing: Hera called you seven the greatest heroes of the age. Time to prove yourselves. Again."

* * *

 *****I know the North Pole/northern corner of the world thing might sound a little crazy, but stick with me—I promise there's a plan for the story! Next chapter should be up in a couple of days.*****


	12. Chapter XI: Leo

*****Thanks as always to everyone who has reviewed! Here's Chapter 11, hope you enjoy! Unfortunately, my schedule is going to get a little busy over the next couple weeks, so updates may be slow, but I will definitely be updating and finishing this story, no worries. Chapter 12 will be up within a week. Thanks for reading!*****

* * *

 **CHAPTER XI. LEO**

Leo was done with monsters taking over his brain and vocal cords. Seriously, it was _not cool_. At least Hecate had helped them out, but now they were on their way to the freaking North Pole to confront Khione and possibly Nyx. Not to mention Koios. Because according to Mars and Hecate, the Titan of the North was eager to help avenge his fallen brothers and mother. Oh goody. This wasn't exactly the way Leo had pictured his winter break going.

They were once again in the Labyrinth, since it was the fastest way to get anywhere. Mars and Hecate hadn't been really clear on whether the Labyrinth would take them all the way to the pole, but it would hopefully get them close. Hazel was leading and her underground senses made the maze relatively easy to navigate. At least she could warn them about the traps every ten feet.

Leo lost track of how long they wandered the maze. He was tired and hungry, his feet hurt, and he guessed that his friends weren't doing much better. He was just getting ready to suggest that they take a quick break when Piper stopped in front of him so suddenly he almost ran into her.

"What the heck, Pipes?" he asked. They were in a tunnel constructed of massive limestone blocks and Piper was staring at the one to the left as if it were an amazing TV show. The others gathered around them now, too.

"Um, Pipes, you okay?" Jason asked.

Piper didn't answer. Instead, she put her hand against the limestone. From her fingers, a cold purple light spread across the stone, forming the outline of a door.

"We need to go this way," Piper murmured.

Percy frowned. "Why?"

"Just a feeling."

If anyone else had said that, Leo would have thought they were nuts. But during the last war, they'd all learned to trust Piper's gut feelings—they were usually spot-on.

He noticed Hazel and Annabeth glance at each other, then Annabeth said, "Open it."

Piper pushed lightly on the door, which swung open. After the darkness of the maze, the blaze of light momentarily blinded Leo. He blinked the spots out of his eyes. When he saw the room in front of him, he blinked a few more times, just to make sure it wasn't an illusion.

It wasn't. The door had opened into a spine-tinglingly familiar ice-coated penthouse.

"Oh, this can't be good," Leo muttered.

Jason's jaw dropped. "Holy Hera, is this—?"

"Yep," Piper said grimly.

"Wait, where—?" Annabeth started to ask, but before she could finish the question, two guys—one wearing a hockey jersey, the other wearing a truly horrible silk shirt, both with massive, feathery purple wings—came down the icy spiral staircase.

Cal and Zethes froze when they spotted the demigods.

"Uh-oh," Cal said.

* * *

It didn't take much persuading to get the Boread brothers (or Bonehead Brothers, as Leo preferred to think of them) to escort them up to the wind god's throne room. Boreas, seated on his throne in the middle of his room of frozen warriors, didn't even look surprised to see them.

Piper curtsied. " _Bon soir, votre Majeste_."

To Leo's surprise, the wind god smiled. " _Bienvenue_ , Piper McLean. And welcome, as well, to your friends. Even the one who smells like fire." Boreas wrinkled his nose, but since he wasn't turning them into hero-sicles, Leo decided not to take offense.

Standing beside his father's throne, Zethes was sulking with his arms crossed and his lower lip sticking out in a pout. "The pretty girl has my sword. She stole it from me after the nasty dragon torched us."

"Fire burns," Calais agreed.

"Hush, both of you," Boreas ordered. "I hope you won't hold my sons' behavior from last summer against them. They would do well to think for themselves a little more." He glared at his sons, both of whom ducked their heads, looking ashamed. "Khione has become quite impossible over the past year. She wishes to take my throne and rule the north wind. Naturally, I will not allow this. Now, she has involved herself in a scheme even more foolhardy than that of Gaea's. When my daughter returns, she will be severely punished. I'm thinking of banishing her to Cancun for a few decades."

"Oh no, not Cancun," Leo said in mock horror.

Boreas nodded gravely. "Indeed."

"We won't hold any grudges," Piper said, "but I'm keeping the sword. Spoils of war."

Zethes opened his mouth, but Boreas said, "That is more than fair."

"But speaking of Khione," Piper continued, "Lord Boreas, we could use your help. We need to get to the North Pole by the solstice to stop Khione and Koios from raising Nyx. Is there any way you can help us?"

Boreas looked thoughtful. "There may be something I can do. And there is not much time. Today, after all, is December twentieth."

Jason's glasses flashed. "So the solstice is tomorrow."

"Wait," Frank held up his hands, "are you saying we spent _three days_ running around the maze? It felt like a few hours!"

Percy and Annabeth exchanged grim looks, then Percy said, "Yeah, that's the awesomeness of the freaking Labyrinth."

"We still have time," Hazel said. "We just have to figure out if the Labyrinth will take us farther north or—"

"It won't," Boreas said bluntly. "However, I believe I may be able to help you with transportation. But may I recommend that tonight you stay here as my guests in the hotel? It is already late. You will have a hard fight ahead when you reach the pole. Better to leave in the morning, well rested and refreshed. We can offer you suites to stay in and I would be honored if you would join me for dinner."

Although Leo didn't completely trust the wind god, the offer was pretty appealing, especially the part about dinner. He and the others exchanged looks, then Piper said, " _Merci beaucoup, votre Majeste_. We'd be honored to stay as your guests."

Boreas smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "Wonderful. In that case, Calais, Zethes, make yourselves useful. Show these demigods to their rooms. After you get cleaned up, we will meet for dinner. And in the morning, I will give you what help I can."

* * *

The suites were, well, sweet.

"Aw, yes," Leo said when he saw the room Cal led him and Jason into. "Cal, man, you delivered."

Cal grinned, displaying several broken teeth, and pointed to the massive flat-screen TV on the wall. "Nine hockey channels. Premium package."

"Awesome." Leo flopped down on the couch and reached for the remote. Cal grunted happily, then walked back out into the hall.

Jason frowned. "This all seems too good to be true."

"Oh it's probably a trap," Leo agreed. "But until Boreas springs it, I say we enjoy."

Before Jason could respond, Calais came back into the room holding two garment bags. "Clothes."

"Uh, thanks." Jason took the garment bag Cal handed him and unzipped it. His eyebrows shot up. "Is that—"

"A tux?" Leo finished incredulously, looking into his own bag. "Holy Hephaestus."

"Fancy dinner," Cal supplied.

Leo met Jason's eyes and knew they were thinking the same thing. _This was going to be interesting_.

* * *

"Fancy dinner" turned out to be a severe understatement. A table for ten had been set up in what appeared to be a ballroom. The walls and ceiling were paneled in white and gold, crystal chandeliers marched in rows along the ceiling, the table was covered in a pure white tablecloth that looked as soft as new fallen snow, and several massive ice sculptures had been artistically placed around the room, for decoration. Leo kept peeking around the corner at the waiters and waitresses bustling around, bringing in trays, adjusting silverware, and generally turning the place out for what looked like a royal reception. Of course, they _were_ supposed to be having dinner with a god; Leo had never been to Mount Olympus, so maybe this kind of thing was just the norm. Boreas hadn't shown up yet, though, so for now, the waiters had asked the demigods to wait in the hall.

"I hate wearing suits," Percy grumbled. He tugged half-heartedly at his dark green tie.

Frank hunched his shoulders. "At least you're not wearing a purple vest."

"I think the color is because you're a praetor," Jason offered. His own vest and tie were sky blue. Leo's were red. Other than the colors on their vests and ties, all four guys were dressed identically in black tuxedos. Personally, Leo was hot and uncomfortable, but it was a pretty swanky hotel; maybe this was just the dress code.

"I think you all look very handsome," Hazel said.

"Definitely," Piper agreed with a smile.

Leo decided to take their word for it. He hoped the guys all looked alright because the three girls looked—wow.

Maybe he was just used to seeing his friends in jeans and t-shirts that were typically in various stages of being destroyed by monsters, but this made the Academy Awards-worthy dresses they were wearing tonight stand out that much more.

Hazel was wearing a gold, sleeveless dress with a high neck. Her normally curly hair had been smoothed back in an elegant bun, and she had on long, dangly gold earrings. She looked like a 1940s movie star, and Leo was trying hard not to laugh at the way Zhang seemed completely tongue-tied around her right now.

Annabeth's long blond hair fell over her shoulder in a loose French-braid. Her dress was dark gray and embroidered all over with crystals. It was also strapless, which she didn't seem thrilled about, although Jackson clearly had no complaints. His jaw had practically hit the floor when she'd walked out.

And then there was Piper. Her dark hair was pulled back in a low, loose bun, with a few strands artfully loose around her face. She was wearing a turquoise, sequined dress; every time it caught the light, it flashed in a dozen different colors. Apparently, Boreas had provided the girls' dresses, like he'd provided the guys' suits, but the hair and make-up touches were courtesy of Piper's mom, Aphrodite. "Too busy to help while we were wandering around the Labyrinth," Piper had said, "but she makes sure we get our hair done for dinner." Based on everything Leo knew about Piper's mom, that sounded about right.

It was cool how everyone was dressed up for dinner, Leo guessed, but it also really made him miss Calypso. Gods, she would have looked amazing, maybe in a red dress, with her hair in loose, soft curls…Leo shook his head. _Snap out of it, Valdez_ , he scolded himself. _Your girlfriend is much safer in the Caribbean_.

Leo's stomach rumbled, like it had been doing for the last half hour. "Where the heck is Boreas?"

The words were barely out of his mouth when the elevator doors dinged. The god appeared in a snow-white tuxedo over a shirt the same dark blue as the winter night sky. He was flanked by his sons, whose outfits threatened to burn Leo's retinas. Zethes was wearing a baby blue, polyester leisure suit, straight out of the seventies. Cal's was even worse, if that was possible. His tuxedo was orange. Both of their shirts were ruffled and they were wearing top hats that matched their suits.

Leo almost choked. "Are those—"

"The tuxes from _Dumb and Dumber_?" Percy was clearly struggling not to laugh. "Holy Hades."

Jason caught Leo's eye and they nearly lost it. If Piper hadn't given them both a swift elbow to the ribs, there was a good chance they would have offended their hosts almost as badly as those tuxes offended the fashion gods.

"Ah, my honored guests." Boreas beamed and spread his arms as he approached the demigods. "Thank you for waiting. But now, I believe our table is ready. Praetor Zhang, would you lead the way?"

Frank turned bright red, but he nodded and offered Hazel his arm. She took it with a smile, and the two of them headed into the dining room. Percy and Annabeth followed them. Boreas's grin made Leo a little uneasy as the wind god gestured for Jason, Piper, and Leo to follow their friends. Cal grinned at Leo, too, but he wasn't sure how to feel about that. Zethes, meanwhile, was ogling Piper, who rolled her eyes as she took Jason's arm. Leo felt another pang of missing Calypso, but then Piper offered her other arm to him. "Come on, Repair Boy. You're with us."

Leo smiled and took Piper's arm. "Works for me, Beauty Queen. Us is my favorite people."

As they took their seats around the table, Leo noticed Annabeth's eyes traveling over the room, probably taking in the architectural details. Leo's attention, however, was drawn to the ice sculpture in the middle of the table. It was a life-size replica of Boreas, which was pretty distracting.

The wind god himself was seated at the head of the table, with the Boreads on either side of him. He was still beaming in a way that totally creeped Leo out. For a few awkward moments, Boreas simply smiled at the demigods, Zethes sulked, and Cal gripped his knife and fork, ready for someone to bring him food. The demigods exchanged glances, not really sure what was up. Finally, Leo cracked and said, "Alright, I'll bite. What's with the star treatment?"

The wind god's creepy smile turned frosty. "Why, you are my VIPs."

Percy grunted. "The last time Frank and I were a god's VIPs it didn't work out so well."

"Yes, I heard all about the fiasco in the Georgia aquarium." Boreas chuckled. "Phorcys was furious. Especially after those mer-heroes came along and dismantled his show by freeing the sea creatures. What were their names again?"

"Lexi, Payton, and Bill," Zethes supplied in his ridiculous French accent.

"Ah, yes." Boreas shuddered. "Fearsome heroes. But you all," he spread his arms, "how could I not feel honored to have you as my guests?"

Leo exchanged baffled looks with Jason and Piper. This wasn't the type of reception they usually received.

"Uh, really?" Frank asked.

"Of course, Praetor Zhang. It's been centuries since I had an acting leader of the legion at my table. And Hazel Levesque," Boreas turned to her, "the girl who thwarted Gaea, then rose from the Underworld to repeat the feat. It's an honor to have you here."

Hazel's cheeks turned pink. "Umm…"

Boreas fixed his eyes on Leo and Piper. "And speaking of thwarting the Earth Mother. It could never have been done without the two of you. I must admit, I did not foresee that as even a remote possibility the last time you were under my roof."

"Gee, thanks," Leo muttered.

Boreas didn't seem to hear him. His gaze had moved to Percy and Annabeth. There was something greedy, almost hungry, about his expression; it made Leo uncomfortable. "Then we have Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. I've heard a great deal about you two: the demigods who defeated Kronos and his army in Manhattan. It's a privilege to finally meet you."

"Um, thanks," Percy said. "I think."

Finally, the wind god's eyes fell on Jason. "And you, Jason Grace. You are a most intriguing demigod."

"Am I?" Jason asked.

"Oh, yes. Indeed you are, _pontifex_." Boreas leaned forward, his creepy smile gone, a grave expression in its place. "Normally, I would be delighted to add all of you to my hero collection in the throne room. You are all quite valuable. I'm sure it would increase tourism to my palace. However, I believe there are better ways you can benefit me."

That didn't sound promising. Leo exchanged edgy looks with Piper, then Jason said cautiously, "How, exactly, can we help you, Lord Boreas?"

The wind god's gaze was greedy again. "I hear you've been building temples at both camps, making sure that all the gods receive the proper respect and attention."

"I have," Jason answered.

"Well, that's what I want." Boreas leaned back in his chair. "Shrines to the North Wind at Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter."

Jason looked surprised, then relieved. He glanced at Frank and Annabeth. "I think we can do that. Right, guys?"

"Definitely," Annabeth agreed.

Frank nodded. "Not a problem."

"And action figures," Zethes chimed in. "Like you promised to the storm goddess."

"With a hockey stick," Cal added. "And a puck."

"I'll see what I can do," Jason promised.

"Excellent." Boreas cleared his throat. "Then there's just one final matter, son of Jupiter. Your father has often been, ahem, quick to punish even non-offending parties for the crimes carried out by others. He has, in the past, especially liked to punish the relatives of those who commit crimes."

Leo wasn't sure what the heck the wind god was getting at, but Piper seemed to understand.

"You're talking about Khione," she said. "You don't want Zeus to punish you for what your daughter is doing."

Boreas shrugged. "I am right to be concerned. Despite his kingly wisdom, Lord Zeus, or Jupiter, whichever, sometimes zaps first and asks questions later. If I help you on this quest," the wind god focused on Jason again, "I trust that you will put in a good word for me with your father?"

Jason shifted in his chair. "I can't promise that my father will listen. But, yes, Lord Boreas. If you help us, I will do my best to make sure Jupiter knows about it."

"That's all I can ask. Now," Boreas snapped his fingers and an icy wind swept through the room, banging open the doors. A battalion of waiters bearing silver dinner platters entered the room. "Let us eat!"

The food was incredible. Leo wished he had more of an appetite. But eating dinner with the north wind and his sons was one of the most awkward meals Leo had ever been at, especially when Boreas's cold gaze kept randomly falling on the demigods, as if imagining them as ice statues, and when Zethes kept making moony eyes at Piper, whose fist was clenched around the handle of her steak knife. So, as delicious as the meal was, especially dessert, it was a relief when it was over.

"Come to the throne room tomorrow morning, heroes," Boreas announced as everyone rose to leave. "I believe I have a way to help speed you to the pole."

" _Merci beaucoup_." Somehow, Piper kept a sweet smile on her face. " _A bientot, Roi du Nord_."

With a flurry of thanks and good nights, the demigods got out of that dining room as fast as possible. None of them spoke until they were two floors up, waiting for the elevator to take them back to their suites. Then Annabeth turned to Piper. "What's your feeling? Are we going to get captured in our sleep again?"

Piper hesitated, thinking. "No. I think Boreas was telling the truth. He'll help us, mostly because he wants Jason to put in a good word with his dad."

"Basically, dude wants to escape punishment more than he wants us for hero-sicles," Leo supplied.

"Pretty much," Piper agreed.

Hazel shuddered. "It was so creepy, the way he said he wanted us for his collection."

"I know," Jason said grimly. "But I agree with Piper and Leo. Boreas will keep his word. He can't afford not to."

Annabeth's eyes were thunderstorm dark. "What worries me is why Boreas is so sure Zeus will zap _him_ for Khione's crimes. Whatever she's up to, it must be bad."

"Well, she's trying to raise Nyx," Percy pointed out.

"Yeah." Annabeth's worried expression didn't change. "But I think there may be more to it than that. It's like we're still missing a crucial piece to the puzzle."

 _Ding_. At that moment the elevator arrived, half full of mortals, which put an end to the demigods' conversation.

* * *

Back in their own room, after saying good night to the others, Leo shot Jason a sideways grin. "So, since the topic came up earlier, can I put in a request for an action figure, too?"

Jason groaned. "I never should have suggested that."

"Mine could shoot flames," Leo continued, "and be devilishly handsome, of course. And maybe even have a mini Festus—sold separately—and—"

"Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Please shut up."

Leo grinned again. "I'm just saying, man. You could have a whole line. They could be in every Wal-Mart and Target in the country. We'd be rich!"

"We?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "Are you getting in on this?"

"Obviously. Who do you think is going to figure out how to make these things spew flames and play hockey?"

Finally, Jason cracked a smile. "Alright, bro. You can be, um, chief operating officer, in charge of action figure, well, action."

They shook on it.

"Just wait, man," Leo said as they headed to their separate bedrooms (seriously, this suite was _huge_ ), "After we get back from this quest, we'll put freaking Barbie out of business."


	13. Chapter XII: Piper

*****Sorry for the delay, but here's Chapter 12! Hope you enjoy! I tried to post yesterday but, of course, fanfiction was down. Fortunately, it's back up and running again. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, they make my day : ) Next chapter should be up in a few days.*****

 **CHAPTER XII. PIPER**

The girls' room was amazing, Piper's bed was super comfortable, and she was ridiculously exhausted. Unfortunately, her nightmares kept her from getting a good night's sleep. It was as if her blade, Katoptris, despite being locked in her trunk at camp, was invading her dreams. Piper saw flashes of the same icy throne room with the black altar. This time, two figures were seated in thrones set on either side of the altar. One Piper recognized instantly as the snow goddess Khione. Piper's fists clenched, but it was only a dream. She didn't recognize the man sitting on the other throne, but he was ten feet tall and radiated power in a way Piper had never felt. Instinctively, she knew she was seeing the Titan Koios. As Piper watched, Khione stood and poured a goblet of red and gold liquid onto the altar, which steamed. A shape began to emerge from the smoke, but Piper's vision changed before she could make out what it was.

She was standing on the banks of a dirty river. It seemed to be underground, but Piper didn't have a chance to get her bearings before she was whisked away to what looked like Central Park. The vision changed again and she saw Apollo playing a mournful tune on his Valdezinator, which was an odd vision, but not overly alarming.

The final vision was the worst. Piper stood alone in a cave. Wind whipped through the cave opening behind her, like she was somewhere up high. In front of her rose a strange, dark shape, almost filling the cavernous space. An ancient, raspy voice spoke in Piper's mind. "' _The son of the elder god will fall_.' Can your charmspeak bring back the dead, daughter of Aphrodite?"

As the horrible voice cracked into a laugh harsher than nails on a chalkboard, Piper clapped her hands over her ears. She took the only escape route available to her and leapt off the cliff.

Piper woke with a start. Her hand was on the hilt of her sword before she was even fully awake. But as her vision cleared, she realized she was still in her room at the wind god's hotel. Everything was quiet. Slowly, Piper's breathing returned to normal. Legs shaking, she threw back the covers and padded out into the main room of the suite to get a glass of water from the kitchenette. The suite was so big that she, Annabeth, and Hazel each had their own rooms. Piper was glad because it made it easier not to wake her friends. And right now, she wasn't really sure she could meet Annabeth's eyes.

" _The son of the elder god will fall_."

Piper sank onto the plush sofa and sipped her water. Out of all the lines in this most recent prophecy, that one bothered her the most. For good reason. The prophecy of seven had also mentioned a fall—" _To storm or fire, the world must fall"_ —and that line had cost Leo his life. True, he was back, thank the gods, but this time there was no physician's cure. And that line could only refer to two of the seven demigods on this quest: Jason or Percy.

Piper loved Jason, but after everything they'd all been through together, she definitely didn't want Percy to die, either. She felt like she was in Kansas again, helplessly watching, unable to stop what was about to happen. But she also knew they couldn't fight against a prophecy. That never ended well for heroes.

"We'll find a way," Piper whispered. Charmspeaking herself never worked, but she had to hope they would all come through this quest okay. Hadn't they all more than earned their happy endings?

She set her empty water glass down with a _clink_ on the glass-topped coffee table, then curled up on the couch. Eventually, Piper fell asleep again and, mercifully, slept without nightmares until Hazel shook her awake.

* * *

Boreas's idea of "help" turned out to involve transforming the demigods into wind and blasting them north from the hotel. Reluctantly, they'd all agreed, mostly because there was no better offer and they had no other ideas. But it wasn't pleasant. The journey was long and cold. Time was almost impossible to judge, especially in the perpetual winter darkness above the Arctic Circle. When they finally landed and resumed their own forms, Piper was nauseous and shivering.

Jason grimaced. "That was even worse than Croatia."

"But at least we made it," Hazel said.

"Yeah." Annabeth's voice was awe-struck, her eyes wide as she looked around. "Gods of Olympus, we're actually at the North Pole."

Barren. Empty. Beautiful. Those were the first words that came to Piper's mind. The landscape was flat to the horizon, but close up, the snow had been swept by the icy wind into piles and drifts of various sizes. The snow shimmered pale blue and green, reflecting the northern lights twisting across the sky. Above the _aurora borealis_ , the Milky Way glowed, almost pulsing from the light of thousands of stars. Piper breathed in the air, clean but so cold her lungs burned.

The Boreads had given them winter weather gear—coats, gloves, snow boots, packets of instant hot chocolate—but the Arctic wind was viciously cold as it swept over the snow. Leo summoned two fistfuls of fire and held them out. The others huddled around the flames.

"N-n-now what?" Frank chattered.

"We have to find Khione and Koios," Piper managed through rapidly numbing lips.

"Maybe they'll come to us," Leo offered. "Seven demigods in one place? We probably just showed up on the radar of every monster out here. If there are any monsters out here."

"Where are the penguins?" Percy asked, eyeing the landscape around them.

"Penguins only live in _Antarctica_ , Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.

"Oh." Percy looked a little disappointed.

Suddenly, Hazel gasped. "Look!"

She pointed over Leo's shoulder and they all turned to see the massive ice palace rising against the stars, maybe half a mile away.

"How the heck did we miss that?" Leo asked.

"It was shrouded in the Mist," Hazel said. "There's serious magic here."

"It looks like Superman's fortress of solitude," Frank observed.

"Or Elsa's palace in _Frozen_ ," Piper said without thinking.

The others all looked at her. Piper blushed. "What? It's a good movie."

Leo grinned. "Maybe if you sing 'Let It Go' you can control Khione, Pipes. It worked on those snake people."

"Or that summer song the snowman sings," Jason added. "Maybe it could melt the ice."

"Or—," Leo started to say when Annabeth interrupted him.

"Okay, enough, guys."

Piper shot her friend a grateful look before giving Jason and Leo a very dirty look. To her annoyance, they both just grinned.

Annabeth continued, "We need to get closer to the palace so we can find a way inside."

Even from this distance, Piper could feel the waves of cold radiating off the palace walls, combined with something more sinister. Malice flowed from the walls just as strongly as the cold. But they didn't have much choice. Whatever was in there had to be stopped. So, with Hazel disguising them in the Mist, they snuck closer to the palace.


	14. Chapter XIII: Annabeth

*****Writer's block combined with a hectic life unfortunately combined to make this a big break between chapters. However, I'm back! Thanks for reading! Hopefully the next chapter will be up much sooner.**

 **In other news: less than a week until Magnus Chase! And after reading the first few sample chapters, it sounds like it's going to be awesome!*****

* * *

 **CHAPTER XIII: ANNABETH**

Everything was going well until they got caught. Annabeth was seriously tired of being captured; she felt like she'd spent half of this quest as a prisoner.

The palace _was_ beautiful, glittering green in the light of the _aurora borealis_ overhead, but the waves of cold rolling off the icy walls made the temperature drop another twenty degrees. As she snuck down a hallway, Annabeth was shaking with cold.

Once they'd reached the palace, the seven of them had split up, partly to cover more ground, and partly to hide the scent of demigods. The goal was to gather information and meet back outside to plan an attack. It wasn't the wisest or safest strategy, perhaps, but it was all they had.

Annabeth and Percy were halfway down the third corridor when Annabeth heard voices up ahead.

"Hide," she hissed, grabbing Percy's arm and dragging him through a nearby doorway. The room they found themselves in looked like a janitor's closet, full of monstrous supplies: weapons, grooming supplies, even a big vat of _Acid-Out: For All Your Monstrous Meltdowns_. Percy braced himself against the door with Riptide, still in pen form, in his hand. Annabeth pressed against the door beside him, both to help hold it shut and to hear what was happening in the hallway.

The voices were coming closer. The snaky voice of a _dracaena_ asked, "But how doesss ssshe know they will sssshow up?"

"Oh my gods," an exasperated voice answered. "Do we _seriously_ have to go over this again?"

Annabeth drew in a sharp breath. Her arm throbbed with remembered pain. She mouthed _Kelli_ and Percy's eyes blazed. But they couldn't attack now; stealth was still their biggest advantage. She forced herself to focus on what the monsters were saying.

"I'm jussst ssssaying," the _dracaena_ continued, "there'sss no guarantee the SSSSSeven will even come to the Pole."

"They _will_ come," Kelli insisted.

"But—"

"The Seven will come and we will crush them. The greatest heroes of the age, my right hoof," the empousa sneered. "We will throw them all into Tartarus and, this time, there will be no escape."

The monstrous voices moved on down the hallway, not even pausing at the door the demigods were hiding behind. When Annabeth met Percy's eyes, she saw her own anger and anxiety reflected right back.

"It's a trap," he said. "Do you think Boreas knew?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Annabeth hated to think badly of the wind god; overall, he had been nice enough to them, but he couldn't be fully trusted. It didn't matter right now, anyway. "We need to find the others and get out."

"Or we could go bash Kelli's face in."

"Tempting, believe me. But if they knew we were coming, we need to regroup so we can make a plan that's not completely suicidal."

"Yeah, you're right. You usually are." Percy uncapped Riptide and the sword grew to full length in his hand as he cracked the door open and peeked into the hallway. "I just hope we can find them before—"

It happened so fast, Annabeth barely had time to blink. The door burst off its hinges, throwing the two of them to the ground. Before Annabeth could recover her senses, she was dragged to her feet. Craning her neck, she saw that a _dracaena_ was grasping her arms. Another had Percy in a headlock. Two more _dracaenae_ and an empousa that Annabeth didn't recognize stood along the shelves lining the walls.

None of that was the worst part.

The worst part was Kelli, in her battered cheerleading uniform, grinning horribly in the doorway of the janitor's closet.

* * *

Kelli's grin widened as she took a step further into the room. "Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. How totally awesome. And no Titan friend around to save you this time."

Annabeth snapped. She drove her elbow as hard as she could into her captor's gut. The _dracaena_ doubled over with a pained grunt, giving Annabeth just enough time to wiggle loose and draw her sword. She slashed it through her captor and the next nearest _dracaena_ , who had been leaning against the vat of _Acid-Out._ They burst into glittering clouds of dust. She turned to face the other empousa, who hissed and bared her fangs. Annabeth raised her sword, but before she could strike, Kelli said, "Stop."

Annabeth froze. The empousa had one hand clenched around Percy's wrist, keeping his sword arm down. The talons of her other hand were at his throat. As Annabeth watched, the empousa nicked his skin. A drop of blood ran down his neck. Kelli pressed her lips against his throat and licked the blood away. Percy flinched.

A wave of revulsion and fury rose in Annabeth's throat. Ignoring the other empousa, she pointed her sword at Kelli. "Get away from him."

Kelli grinned wickedly at her and licked her lips. "Hero's blood. Delicious. With just a hint of salt." The demon pressed her claws tighter against Percy's throat. "Drop your sword, daughter of Athena. Or I will open his throat and feast on his blood."

Percy's eyes were blazing again. "Annabeth, don't."

Yeah, right.

Annabeth's knees shook, but she sheathed her sword. Instantly, the other empousa pounced, dragging Annabeth's arms behind her back and binding them painfully tight, while Kelli did the same to Percy.

"What happens now?" Annabeth asked through gritted teeth.

Kelli's smug expression should have been outlawed. "Now, we take you to the throne room."

* * *

Arrogant. Stupid. Careless. Those were the words running through Annabeth's mind as she and her friends were dragged into the throne room. She'd been dismayed, but not surprised, to discover that the rest of their friends had also been captured. The palace was crawling with monsters eagerly sniffing for demigod. How could she have believed they wouldn't be caught? They shouldn't have split up and tried to gather intel. A better strategy would have been to storm the palace, using the element of surprise to win them some small advantage over their enemies. Why hadn't she thought of that? Or Frank? Their other friends had been in combat plenty of times, too. Between them, they should have realized…okay, stop. Annabeth forced herself to take a deep breath. It's done. Now, she had to deal with the situation at hand, which was pretty bad. It got a lot worse when Khione the snow goddess stepped forward from the dais, raised her hands, and flash-froze the demigods before they'd even had time to speak.

The chill shot right to Annabeth's bones, colder even than the Cocytus. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even blink or close her mouth. The only thing she could do was breathe, barely. Frustration ballooned in her chest. She absolutely hated being sidelined in a fight.

She could still see, though. Through a thin sheen of ice, she watched as Khione rose leisurely from her throne made of thick blue ice. In the other throne, the Titan Koios lounged; Annabeth recognized his Stygian iron armor, with the diamond in the breastplate, and his bear's head helm from their brief encounter in Tartarus. Between Koios and Khione's thrones was a low altar constructed of void-black stone. The altar seemed to suck any last warmth out of the air, like a black hole at the center of the room, drawing warmth, air, and hope towards oblivion. Instinctively, Annabeth knew there was only one place something so horrible could have come from: the Mansion of Night.

"Welcome, heroes." Khione's voice was as soft and cold as snowflakes. Her smile was more chilling than the ice encasing them. "So kind of you to answer the summons of Night." The goddess's dark eyes drifted across the frozen demigods and finally settled on Piper. " _Bon soir_ , _ma chere_. I will very much enjoy killing you."

"In good time." Koios rose from his throne. Like most Titans, he was about ten feet tall. His blue-white eyes seemed to pulse with cold. "But revenge is not the only reason these demigods were called to the pole. Here, using their blood, we will raise Night."

"Yes." Khione's pale face was lit with excitement. Other monsters, including Kelli, gathered around the room, all eyes eagerly flicking between the demigods and the altar. "The Mistress of Night will rise. With her help, we will wrap the world in cold and darkness forever."

 _Typical evil villain speech_ , Annabeth thought. She gritted her teeth, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move her arms or legs; everything was completely frozen, encased in the ice.

A blast of air ran around the room, carrying with it the scent of sulfur. Annabeth's chest tightened. She knew that smell: the stink of Tartarus.

The monsters began moving more excitedly, although a few looked nervous. Even they were terrified of Nyx.

"The time draws near," Koios boomed, spreading his arms. "Eternal Night approaches. Khione, spill their blood."

Khione sauntered down from her throne, while Koios stood, smiling coldly, beside the void-black altar. An icy goblet appeared in Khione's hands. Under any other circumstances, the goblet would have been beautiful, but the sight filled Annabeth with dread. As Khione approached the demigods, she took an icepick out of her pocket. Annabeth tried to recoil, but she was still frozen solid. There was nothing any of them could do to stop Khione as she walked up to them one by one and pricked their fingers. A few drops of blood fell into the goblet. Khione smiled sweetly, but her eyes were as cold as the frozen tundra. With the eyes of everyone in the hall on her, she reverently and slowly carried the goblet back up the steps, and paused before the altar.

"Mother Night," she intoned, "we offer you this sacrifice. Take these demigods' blood and be reborn!"

Completely focused on what was happening in front of her, Annabeth didn't immediately notice the warmth spreading up her arm. In her peripheral vision, she was shocked to see that her left arm was nearly unfrozen. The ice around her neck cracked and she turned her head to see Leo beside her, flames simmering at a slow burn across his skin. He was thawing the ice on himself, as well as Annabeth and Piper on either side of him. Annabeth caught his eye and he smiled grimly. Within seconds, the ice sloughed off the three of them. Moving slowly, Leo slipped past Annabeth, flames still licking over his skin, to unfreeze Jason, Percy, Hazel, and Frank. Annabeth waited for Kelli or her minions to stop them, but they were all engrossed by what was happening at the altar.

Khione raised the goblet of blood over her head. Before Annabeth or Piper could make a move to stop her, she overturned it, allowing the demigods' blood to splash against the stone.

Annabeth flashed back to the Acropolis and the moment when Percy's blood hit the ground. As Khione poured their blood onto the altar, the blood sizzled and turned as gold as ichor.

For a moment no longer than a heartbeat, time stood still.

And then a column of darkness blasted forth from the altar. Another blast of sulfurous wind rushed through the throne room, throwing everyone—demigods, monsters, Khione and Koios—to the ground.

The column of darkness began to subside, revealing the form hidden within it.

Nyx had risen.

* * *

Annabeth's brain froze. Suddenly, she was back on the edge of the void of Chaos. Nyx was only twenty feet tall, about half the height she had been in Tartarus, but she was still large enough to be intimidating and terrifying. Her eyes pulsed like quasars. Darkness rose around her like waves, sapping the light from the room. Just the goddess's aura was menacing. Somehow, Annabeth knew that, this time, no tricky talk would get them out of this.

Khione, the lesser monsters, and even Koios fell to their knees as Nyx stretched her arms, like she was waking up from a nap.

"At last!" Her pulsing eyes fell on the snow goddess and the Titan of the north. "You have done well, both of you. Now, we will achieve what even Gaea and Kronos could not. We will smash Olympus. Gods and demigods will serve us or be destroyed. And with the Oracle gone and Python risen in Delphi, they will never even see it coming!"

The empousai, _dracaenae_ , and other monsters in the room cheered. Khione and Koios rose to their feet, smiling broadly. Annabeth and her friends drew their swords.

"Yes," Nyx continued. "Together, we will obliterate the future and wrap the world in eternal darkness and cold. Tourists will come in droves to see my palace here at the pole. They will beg for photos. There will be sponsorship deals. I will be newsworthy!"

 _I created a monster_ , Annabeth thought numbly. Nyx _had_ to be stopped. But how?

Nyx's eyes fell on the demigods and a creepy smile broke across her face. "Perfect. I have just the job for you, demigods. In between tortures, you will lead visitors around the Underworld. Imagine it—being a tour guide for eternity!"

"I'm pretty sure that's the definition of hell," Percy muttered, and Annabeth had the insane desire to laugh.

"Indeed, Perseus Jackson," Nyx said. "That is exactly where you are headed."

Nyx stomped her foot and the ground in front of the dais cracked. Khione and Koios, who had stumbled back from their thrones when Nyx rose, now found themselves separated from the dais by a gaping chasm at least fifteen feet wide. The sight of the gap gave Annabeth chills, and not from the cold.

The primordial goddess of night had opened a passageway directly into Tartarus.

That was what finally snapped Annabeth into action—she would _not_ go back to that place.

Cracks had appeared in the walls and ceiling of the ice palace, the building shaken by the violence of Nyx's rise from the pit. It reminded Annabeth strangely of the shrine of Mithras, underneath Rome. And that gave her an idea. A desperate, seriously unpleasant idea. But how to carry it out? Then, she thought about the combined powers of Hazel, Jason, Leo, and Percy—earth, air, fire, water—and the solution seemed so simple she almost wanted to laugh again, if it hadn't also been so pathetically sad. But how to communicate her plan to the others? And besides, they still had to deal with Khione and Koios, the future king and queen of cold.

The plunge to Tartarus was in front of Nyx and right behind Khione and Koios, who were transfixed before the primordial goddess. Nyx was rising directly from the altar—if it's crushed, Annabeth thought, maybe she will be, too. It wasn't a good chance, but it was their only chance.

None of the monsters were paying the demigods any attention—they were all too enthralled with the goddess of night. Annabeth took the opportunity to lock eyes with Hazel, Jason, Leo, and, finally, Percy. "Bring it down."

Luckily, judging by their wide eyes and grimaces, they understood. She looked at Frank. "Protect them if you can."

He nodded grimly.

Then, she turned to Piper. "You're with me. Let's send these monsters back to Tartarus."

Piper looked pale, but she nodded.

Annabeth's heart wrenched as she cast her eyes one final time over her friends. _No victory without sacrifice_. Wasn't that what Nike had said? She just wished they weren't the ones who always had to sacrifice. Annabeth took a deep breath, then said, "Now!"

Hazel raised her hands and the floor began to shake. Jason thrust his gladius into the air and a bolt of lightning blasted a hole in the ceiling. As shards of ice began to fall, he used the winds to direct the falling projectiles right at the monsters, who disintegrated as they were stabbed or crushed by ice. Leo shot flames at the walls, which began to melt. Jagged cracks shot up the sides of the walls as the structure loosened.

The final straw for the palace was Percy. With a shout, he stabbed Riptide into the floor, calling upon the frozen water to obey him. The walls and thrones shattered.

Above the sounds of ice bursting and monsters yelling, Annabeth heard Nyx scream, "NO!"

Koios and Khione turned to see the destruction, but before they could react, Annabeth and Piper charged. Piper tackled Khione, while Annabeth threw herself at the Titan, catching him off-guard. He stepped backwards with an "Oof!" as she hit him in the stomach. While he was off-balance, she gave him another hard shove. Koios screamed almost louder than Khione as they both tumbled into the gaping pit. The crater snapped close, cutting off their screams, just as the palace thundered down.


	15. Chapter XIV: Frank

*****Thanks to everyone for the reviews on the last chapter! Hope you enjoy reading this one. Chapter Fifteen will be up sometime next week. Have a great weekend!*****

* * *

 **CHAPTER XIV: FRANK**

Frank didn't remember turning into a dragon. It must have been a reflex. Luckily, he had been able to protect his friends under his wings, so they'd managed to avoid being crushed by the falling ice and rocks and other debris. Frank had taken the brunt of the collapse, but his dragon body was a lot more solid than his human form. However, once his friends had climbed free of the debris mountain and Frank turned back into himself, he groaned, feeling more battered than he would have thought possible.

Hazel knelt beside him and gave him a sip of nectar from her canteen. "Here, this will help."

"Thanks." Frank hauled himself into a sitting position and looked around. The monsters seemed to be gone, apparently crushed when the palace collapsed. "Where's Nyx?"

Hazel shook her head. "I don't know. Koios and Khione seem to be gone, too."

Frank was just thinking, _It can't have been that easy_ , when Leo's eyes widened. "And, um, where are the girls?"

Frank jerked like he'd received an electric shock. His eyes traveled over the ruined palace. Nothing moved in the rubble. And where the gap to Tartarus had been, the floor was solid, with not even a crack to show where the chasm had existed.

Percy scrambled to his feet. "Annabeth!" His voice was hoarse with panic.

"Piper!" Jason's was, too.

Frank struggled to his feet with Hazel's help. "Guys, we'll find them. I'm sure they're just—"

He was cut off by an unearthly shriek. Rubble exploded from where the altar had been, rocks and ice raining down as Nyx rose out of the debris. Frank wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or terrified when he saw that the goddess was holding Annabeth in one hand and Piper in the other, both banged up and weaponless, but alive.

"FOOLS!" Nyx bellowed. "I am the primordial goddess of night! You _cannot_ defeat me!"

Frank heard the sounds of Hazel, Jason, and Percy drawing their swords. Leo summoned a fistful of fire in one hand and a ten-pound hammer from his tool belt in the other. Frank clenched his fists. This was a fight they couldn't win. The goddess might be weakened by being in the mortal world and having her altar destroyed, but she was still more than a match for a few demigods. Still, they had to try.

Nyx's eyes glittered, pulsing like quasars, bright against the darkness around her. "Demigods alone cannot stop me. And once I reach the serpent, we will destroy the future forever. You are doomed!"

Before any of them could react, Nyx flung Piper and Annabeth like a couple of rag dolls. Piper flew into Leo and Frank, bowling them over, while Annabeth slammed into Percy, knocking them both to the ground.

Frank grunted as Piper's elbow caught him in the stomach. "Sorry," she said.

"It's okay," he replied. Leo was the first to recover. He rose and helped Piper to her feet, then held out a hand to pull Frank up as Percy and Annabeth also got to their feet. Hazel and Jason were still facing Nyx, swords drawn, covering the others.

"Die in darkness, demigods," the goddess hissed. The shadows thickened around her and Nyx was gone.

* * *

For a few moments, the only sound was the wind whistling over the frozen plain. Then, Percy said what Frank was thinking.

"What the heck just happened?"

"I'm not sure," Leo frowned, "but I think Nyx just left us to die here."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Jason said.

"But where is Nyx going?" Piper asked.

"Delphi," Annabeth said. "It has to be. She talked about the serpent and destroying the future. She's gone to Delphi to meet with Python. Remember what Medusa and Mars said? They're planning to destroy the Oracle."

"How would that end the future, though?" Hazel asked. "Wouldn't it just mean we'd keep not having any more prophecies?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I don't know, but I really don't want to find out. We need to get to Delphi."

"How?" Leo asked. "In case you haven't noticed, we're _stuck at the freaking North Pole_."

Hazel suddenly giggled, which sounded shrill in the icy air. All of them looked at her incredulously. "I'm sorry," she managed, then giggled again. "It's just—it's so pathetic and ridiculous. We defeated those monsters, a goddess, and a Titan, but—but we're…"

"Stuck at the freaking North Pole," Jason finished, echoing Leo. His shoulders started to shake, too. And then, suddenly, all of them were laughing, a little hysterically. Frank guessed it was the pent-up stress and momentary relief, because despite the fact that they were going to freeze to death unless they did something soon, or maybe because of that, the seven of them sat in the ruins of the palace, tiny in the snow-swept landscape, with the stars and northern lights shimmering overhead, and they laughed until tears ran down their cheeks.

* * *

Annabeth, unsurprisingly, was the first to hiccup her way back to seriousness. "But, seriously," she said, wiping the tears off her face, "we need to figure something out." She stepped closer to Percy, who wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah," Percy said, "because after everything we've all been through, this would be the most epically lame way to die ever."

That set them all off again, but not for as long. This time, Hazel straightened up first. "I have an idea. You guys _really_ won't like it, but I think it'll work. It's something Nico showed me how to do."

"Oh, Styx," Percy muttered.

Frank shared his feelings. He got along pretty well with Hazel's brother, but if she was going to try one of di Angelo's tricks, there was no way it was going to be fun.

"Will it beat freezing to death?" Leo asked.

Hazel nodded. "Barely."

"Fantastic," Frank muttered.

"We trust you, Hazel," Piper said. Her lips were tinged blue. "Do your thing."

Hazel took a deep breath. "Everybody grab hands."

Frank held tight to Hazel's hand on his right and Piper's on his left. He took one last look up at the a _urora borealis_ dancing across the Milky Way. And then the ground opened up and swallowed them whole.


	16. Chapter XV: Leo

*****Thank you to everyone who reviewed, or added this story to follows and favorites! Hope you enjoy this chapter!*****

* * *

 **CHAPTER XV: LEO**

They emerged on the banks of a murky river swirling with debris. The riverbank was dark and when he looked up Leo realized why. They were standing in an enormous cavern. Far away in the gloom, he could see massive walls rising up. In the distance, a dog howled…or was it more than one dog?

Annabeth's eyes widened as she saw the river. "Oh gods."

Piper took a step closer to Jason; she looked really freaked out for some reason, though Leo wasn't sure why. They were just in a big cavern with a dirty river. "Where are we?"

"The Underworld," Hazel said calmly.

A chill ran down Leo's spine. "Wait, what?"

In the dim light, Hazel's face looked ghostly, like the spirit she had been before Nico brought her back. "We're in the Underworld, on the banks of the River Styx. With shadow-travel, it's pretty easy to get into my father's realm. The hard part is getting out."

Frank gulped. "I guess it's better than freezing to death at the North Pole."

"Maybe," Jason said. "But how are we going to get out now that we're here?"

Hazel bit her lip. "Well, there's Charon's ferry, which leads to the main door in Los Angeles, though I'm not sure how we'll sneak onto the ferry."

Leo wished she'd thought of that before she brought them here, but he kept his mouth shut, mostly because he didn't want to hurt Hazel's feelings, but also partly because he didn't want Frank to knock him on the head again.

Percy looked around and grimaced. "Actually, there's another way out. I know where we are."

"You do?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah. This is about where Nico brought me when I, uh, did the whole bathe-in-the-Styx-turn-invulnerable thing. The door of Orpheus is just down that way." He pointed up the river. "It'll drop us right into Central Park."

* * *

No surprise, but climbing a stairway out of the Underworld _sucked_. By the time they reached the door of Orpheus, Leo had a stitch in his chest and his legs were burning. It was almost a relief to feel the sharp, cold wind blowing through Central Park. Snow was gently falling. After the darkness and silence of the North Pole, the watery late afternoon light and the bustle of rush hour traffic was almost overwhelming. It felt surreal to be back in Manhattan.

Another gust of wind whipped through the park and Leo wrapped his arms around himself. "Doesn't feel much warmer here than the North Pole," he remarked.

"Sad truth," Percy agreed. He took a deep breath. "But at least we're home."

"We can't stay, though," Piper pointed out. "We have to get to Delphi and stop Nyx. And Python."

"How the heck are we supposed to do that, though?" Leo asked. "I mean, it took us almost a freaking month to get to Greece last time. And we don't have the _Argo II_ anymore."

"The Labyrinth," Annabeth said quietly. The wind whipped her blond hair, giving her a somewhat eerie look. "We can use the maze to get across the Atlantic. Can't we?" She looked at Hazel, who nodded uneasily.

"Yes, probably. But it won't be easy."

Piper sighed. "It never is."

Jason, who had been intently staring at a tree, making Leo a little concerned for his friend's mental stability, now spoke. "We need reinforcements."

"What?" Frank asked.

Jason blinked, then turned to the others. "I was just thinking. Python was originally defeated by Apollo, right? Doesn't it make sense to ask a child of Apollo to come along? It could help."

Annabeth looked thoughtful. "That's not a bad idea."

"We could IM Will Solace," Percy suggested. "He's the head counselor for Apollo and he's a pretty good shot with a bow. Plus, you know, he's the best medic at camp, which could be good, since we're going into battle and all."

"Sounds like a plan." Leo fished a golden drachma out of his tool belt and held it up. "Let's make a call."

* * *

They hung out in a nearby coffee shop while they waited for the reinforcements to arrive, though Leo didn't figure any of them really needed the caffeine; they were already jittery. Percy twirled his ballpoint pen Riptide between his fingers, Annabeth tapped her nails against the tabletop, and Hazel was jiggling her leg up and down, perched on the edge of her seat. They were all making Leo extra-nervous and his stomach was already tied in knots at the thought of going back to the Ancient Lands, especially to face a goddess and monster as intimidating as Nyx and Python. Sure, Leo had faced down some uber-bad dudes before, but that didn't mean it got easier.

However, his worries flew right out of his mind a few minutes later when he saw the girl who walked in with Will Solace and Nico di Angelo. There was a flash of caramel-colored hair, then Calypso threw her arms around Leo, nearly tackling him out of his chair as she kissed him.

Jason wolf-whistled. There was a noise as Piper smacked his arm and Jason protested, "What? He does that crap to me all the time!"

Leo didn't care. He'd missed Calypso more than he'd wanted to admit and even though he was worried for her safety (since he guessed she was planning to come with them on this insane quest), he was also really glad she was here.

She pulled away, her dark eyes shining. "Hi."

"Hey," Leo said. "Back from the Bahamas?"

"Mm-hm. I wanted to make sure you didn't blow yourself up again."

"Thanks for that, Sunshine," Leo grinned as she took the empty seat beside him and Calypso smiled back.

Frank looked a little red-faced at the display of affection and Hazel appeared mildly scandalized, but the others just shook their heads and turned to where Will and Nico were sitting down. Hazel squeezed her brother's arm as he took the seat beside her. "I didn't know you were coming!"

Nico shrugged. "Since you're trying to banish a goddess back to the Underworld, I thought maybe you could use the son of Hades along."

"Can't hurt," Percy said.

"So," Will prompted, leaning his elbows on the table, "you guys want to fill us in on the rest of the details about this quest?"

As quickly as they could, they explained about being captured by Chrysaor and Medusa, wandering the maze, the fight at the North Pole, and what needed to be done next. By the time Hazel finished describing the next part of the plan—using the Labyrinth to get to Delphi—neither Will nor Nico looked very happy, but they still seemed grimly determined to come along.

"The Labyrinth sucks," Nico shuddered, "but you're right, it is the fastest way to get there."

"It's under Pasiphae's control now, not Daedalus's," Annabeth warned, "so it's even trickier. There were traps practically every ten feet."

"We can do it." Piper swirled her straw around her drink, then looked around the table. "We have to stop Nyx. And Python."

"Yeah, I don't know about you guys, but I'm all about the future," Leo said. "I definitely don't want that stupid goddess making it all dark and terrible."

"Agreed," Jason said. "So, are we ready to go?"

There were nods of assent around the table. Calypso squeezed Leo's hand. She looked a little pale, but her determined expression made Leo think twice about trying to persuade her not to go.

"How do we get back into the maze?" Frank asked.

"We passed an entrance on our way over here from the park," Hazel said. "It's in the base of a statue. I think it said the name was Thor-something."

"Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen," Annabeth said eagerly. "He was a famous Danish sculptor. His pieces are incredible, like his _Jason with the Golden Fleece_ and—"

"History lesson later," Percy said, putting a hand on Annabeth's arm. "Now, we need to head to this Thor guy's statue so we can get back into the stupid Labyrinth."

"That's the spirit," Leo said with a grin.

* * *

The Labyrinth was even more miserable this time around than it had been a day ago. The maze seemed to have become even more dangerous and tricky. Even with Hazel leading them and pointing out traps, Leo and the others very nearly died at least a dozen times. Time was impossible to judge in the Labyrinth, but eventually, Leo's stomach and feet began to complain very loudly. Between the trip north and the fight there, plus the climb out of the Underworld, it had been a long day. But he didn't want to be the first one to call for a rest.

Finally, they reached a crossroads. Four tunnels branched off a room almost the size of Bunker Nine and lined with ancient Greek-looking columns that rose to a ceiling so high it was lost in darkness. Hazel hesitated, biting her lip as she studied the four tunnels leading out of the room.

"Can you tell which way?" Nico asked.

She didn't answer right away. "I'm not sure. There are some seriously bad traps down all four tunnels. And I don't think there's one right way this time. All of these feel like they lead the direction we need to go. I'm just not sure which is the _best_ route."

"Maybe you don't need to decide this second," Percy suggested. "This seems like as good a place as any to rest."

"Yeah," Piper said. "We can take a break for a few hours, then decide on the tunnels."

No one disagreed with this idea, so they set about making a temporary campsite. Luckily, Will, Nico, and Calypso had brought plenty of supplies. And fire was no problem, at least for Leo.

After they grabbed some food and set up the watches (Hazel took first watch, since she said she wanted to think about the tunnels some more), everyone settled down to sleep. Leo lay down near Calypso, who was staring up into the gloom.

"What do you think of your first quest?" he asked her quietly.

"So far, it's dangerous, exhausting, and my feet hurt." She turned her head so he could see her smile. "And it absolutely beats spending eternity alone on an island."

Leo returned the smile. "If you're happy, I'm happy."

She reached out and squeezed his fingers. They eventually fell asleep that way, holding hands.


	17. Chapter XVI: Percy

*****For everyone who's been asking for some Percabeth, here's your chapter.*****

* * *

 **CHAPTER XVI: PERCY**

Percy was relieved when Hazel woke him up for the second watch. He'd been having a nightmare about the last time he'd faced Nyx, beside the void of Chaos. So he was perfectly fine with keeping a lookout and not going back to sleep.

He could hear the creaks and groans of walls shifting deeper in the maze, but the room they were in was quiet. The only sounds were his friends' snores and the occasional mutter of someone talking in their sleep. Percy leaned his head back against the wall, twirling Riptide, in pen form, between his fingers. It had been a long day; his muscles were sore. And tomorrow was probably going to be even harder.

At least they had some extra help, though. Nico was always good in a fight and it just made sense to bring Will Solace along, since his dad Apollo had been the one to originally slay Python. Then his eyes fell on Calypso, asleep on the other side of the room.

His biggest _what if_.

That was the way he had felt as he'd sailed away from her island years ago. But he didn't really feel that way anymore. A tiny part of him, maybe, did, but things were a lot different since she had come back with Leo. Percy was genuinely happy for them; they seemed good together. And okay, yeah, it had been a little awkward at first, but that hadn't lasted long. Now, Percy felt almost as comfortable around Calypso as he did around Hazel or Piper or Rachel. They were friends.

And besides, he didn't really need a _what if_.

Percy glanced down at Annabeth, curled up beside him. Her breathing was slow and even. Her head was pillowed on her forearm, with her blond hair falling across her face. He reached out and gently brushed the hair back from her cheek. If he was being honest with himself, it wasn't the prophecy, or figuring out that Rachel could help them on the quest, or wanting to stop Luke that had driven him to leave Calypso's island. It was a kiss in a volcano and the tiny spark of hope it had ignited in his chest.

Annabeth's hand was resting on the stone floor. Percy lightly covered it with his own. He desperately wanted the battle to be over with. He was tired of fighting. It was frustrating because every time he thought they were safe, thought maybe they could just live their lives, something else always seemed to go wrong. He remembered the horrible moment earlier, when he thought she'd gone to Tartarus with Koios and Khione. Instinctively, he squeezed her hand.

Annabeth's eyes fluttered open. "Percy? What are you doing?"

Immediately, he felt guilty and a little embarrassed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Were you watching me sleep?" she asked as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Um, maybe a little bit."

"That's kind of creepy, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth scooted back so she was leaning against the wall next to him. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I guess. I was just thinking."

She took his hand and laced her fingers through his. "About what?"

He didn't really want to talk about Tartarus or the fight with Nyx, so instead he said, "Mount St. Helens."

"Seriously?"

Percy shrugged. "You know, we're in the Labyrinth again, so I was thinking about that quest."

"Hmm." He could tell she didn't completely believe him, but she didn't press him either. "Yeah, that was an…interesting quest."

"That's one way to put it," he muttered.

Annabeth laid her head on his shoulder. "Everything worked out eventually. It always does, somehow."

"Yeah." Percy tried to focus on the present, on the comfortable warmth of Annabeth beside him in the chilly cave, but it was hard. He was more scared than he wanted to admit about the fight in Delphi. It seemed stupid after everything he'd been through, but Nyx terrified him more than any immortal except Tartarus himself. And Python didn't exactly seem like he would be easy to defeat either. "But would it be so hard for these freaking immortals to just settle down for a century or two, let us live our lives, _then_ wreak whatever havoc they want?"

She laughed softly. "That would be nice."

"I'm just tired of fighting, Annabeth." Percy leaned his head back against the stone wall.

Annabeth shifted so she could meet his eyes. "We're demigods, Percy. Heroes. And heroes never have easy lives."

"Yeah, I know, but why does it always seem like we get stuck with the extra-hard stuff?" He hated how whiny he sounded, but he was tired: tired from the day, tired of dealing with one war after another, tired of the gods using him over and over again.

"None of our friends have exactly had it easy, Percy," Annabeth chided gently. "Think about it."

He did. Glancing around the room at his sleeping friends, he started to feel guilty for complaining. Nico had lost his sister, Frank had lost his mother and grandmother, Jason had been abandoned by his mom when he was two. And Leo and Hazel had _died_ , for Zeus's sake, both trying to defeat Gaea. Compared to their sacrifices, even given what he himself had been through, Percy felt pretty stupid for complaining.

"You're right," he told Annabeth. "I guess I was just feeling sorry for myself."

"Well, don't," she said bluntly.

He snorted. "Yes, ma'am."

Her expression softened. "I'm just saying, Percy, you can't start thinking you've gotten such a bum deal from the gods. That way of thinking, well, it doesn't go anywhere good."

He met her eyes and knew they were both thinking of Luke, who had let his bitter feelings about the Olympians and his fate lead him down a very dark path.

"I'm done with the pity-party," Percy assured her. "Promise."

"Good." Annabeth nudged him with her shoulder. "Besides, Seaweed Brain, I don't think your life is _that_ bad. I can think of a few good parts."

"Oh yeah?" Percy smiled slowly.

"Yeah."

Annabeth leaned closer and kissed him, which, admittedly, made Percy feel a whole lot better. It was a good thing no monsters chose right then to attack because he was pretty distracted.

When she pulled away, Annabeth said, "I love you, Seaweed Brain."

"Love you, too, Wise Girl." Percy grinned and Annabeth laughed quietly, because he'd only called her that a few times since the Acropolis.

"You're ridiculous," she informed him, but she still snuggled up next to him with her head on his shoulder again.

"You going to help me keep watch?" Percy asked.

"No," Annabeth yawned. "You just make a better pillow than the ground."

"Glad to know I'm good for something."

Percy was still worried about the battle tomorrow, but as Annabeth's breathing became deep and even again, he at least felt a little more hopeful.

* * *

The next morning, or whatever passed for morning in the maze, Hazel immediately directed them toward a red brick tunnel on the far left of the room. "This is the way forward," she said with certainty. "I had a dream, a vision from my father last night. This is the way we need to go."

No one questioned her; they simply gathered up their things and plunged back into the twisting corridors. Eventually, their tunnel ended at a massive pair of bronze doors. Something about the doors felt disturbingly familiar to Percy, but he couldn't figure out why.

His friends were eyeing the doors warily.

"What do you think?" Piper asked Hazel.

"I don't know." Hazel bit her lip. "It's weird, but I can't tell what's behind that door. My underground compass is completely messed up. It's almost like…" Her eyes widened. "Oh gods, we need to get out of—"

Hazel's sentence was cut off as the bronze doors melted off their hinges and a wave of molten metal enveloped the demigods.

Percy didn't even have time to panic, though, before he was suddenly blinking in a brightly lit cavern the size of Grand Central's terminal. His friends were around him, all gasping and clearly shocked by the strange experience of being swallowed by doors, but everyone seemed to be unharmed. As his shocked brain kicked back into action, Percy took in some more details of the room. Bronze braziers lit the room and bronze statues lined the walls; Percy shuddered, hoping they weren't automatons ready to come to life. But then he looked ahead at the two figures standing in front of him, and he realized that automatons were the least of their problems.

The smaller figure was dressed in a gold, Greek-style gown, with dark hair piled on top of her head in intricate braids, laced with jewels. A pendant shaped like the Labyrinth glittered at her throat. Her eyes were wide and mad.

"Pasiphae," Hazel hissed, clenching her fists.

The sorceress smirked. "Welcome, demigods, to my new domain. I would introduce you to my companion, but I believe some of you are already acquainted with him."

Oh yeah, Percy recognized her "companion." Fifteen feet tall and dressed only in a loincloth, which showed off his red skin tattooed with blue wave designs, the giant towered over Pasiphae.

"Antaeus," Percy said.

The giant grinned, showing off his teeth etched in wave designs. "Hello again, brother. I will take great pleasure in killing you and your friends."

Before Percy could respond, Nico spoke up. "In case you didn't notice, you're both outnumbered. It's five to one."

Pasiphae threw back her head and laughed, while Antaeus chuckled. The bronze doors behind the demigods slammed open and several dozen demons, horned centaurs, dog-headed _cynocephali_ , and Laistrygonian cannibals poured into the room. In moments, the demigods were surrounded.

"You were saying, son of Hades?" Antaeus rumbled. "I believe it is now you who are outnumbered."

Percy cursed mentally. He and the others had drawn their swords, but it would do no good. There were too many enemies; if it came to a fight, Percy and his friends would quickly be overwhelmed.

"You will not get past us, demigods," Pasiphae said. "Nyx herself ordered us to this arena to stop you from reaching Delphi."

"This doesn't look like much of an arena," Will observed.

He was right. The room was long and rectangular, with a marble floor. It looked more like a ballroom than any arena Percy had ever been in.

Pasiphae sneered. "It is an arena if we say it is, fool. Daedalus constructed it to be a training room, for swordplay and such. It was one of the inventor's favorite rooms. But now, everything in his domain belongs again to me. And I say this arena now belongs to Antaeus, for his contests."

With a sick sense of certainty, Percy saw where this conversation was headed. His hunch was confirmed when Antaeus grinned again and cracked his knuckles. "Indeed, Queen Pasiphae. And as the combatant for my first contest, I choose my fellow son of Poseidon—Percy Jackson!"

* * *

The last time he'd faced Antaeus, Percy had been fourteen and still coming to terms with his powers. Now, at seventeen, Percy felt more confident with what he was capable of, but against an opponent like Antaeus, it would only take one mistake. Not to mention, there was Pasiphae to worry about, plus half an army's worth of monsters. Even if Percy somehow managed to take down the giant, the sorceress and her cronies would still kill them all. As he strode into the center of the room, flanked by Annabeth and Jason, Percy's mind spun for ideas, but he came up with nothing.

Antaeus had announced they would each choose two associates to join them in the middle and set the terms of the fight. Percy had picked Annabeth, of course, not only because she was usually his first choice of back-up, but also because if he didn't pick her, he figured she'd kill him before Antaeus got the chance. After a few moments of deliberation, his second choice had been Jason. He'd considered Hazel, Piper, or Frank for various reasons, but settled on Jason because the guy could be both calm and intimidating. Plus, he was the son of Jupiter, which couldn't hurt. Antaeus had chosen a _cynocephalus_ and a Laistrygonian giant.

"Is this the part where I get to choose my weapon?" Percy asked Antaeus as they faced each other in the center of the room.

"Not this time, brother," Antaeus said. "No weapons. We will fight in my style—wrestling."

Percy's stomach dropped a few more notches. Muscles bulged beneath the giant's skin. His arms were as big around as Percy's torso. If Antaeus got his hands on him, Percy would be crushed like a mouse in a snake's coils. But what choice did he have? "Fine. But I want the same deal as last time. Winner takes all. I win, we all go free."

Antaeus bared his teeth. "And when I kill you, your friends will die, too."

Percy shrugged. "You can try. But I don't think they'll go quietly."

"Good. I want them to scream. Starting with the one who destroyed the Earth Mother." The giant's glare settled on Leo. "Once I am finished with you, _brother_ , I will rip the limbs from him. You will die in agony, Leo Valdez."

"Been there, done that," Leo said. "And not going back."

"But if I win, we all go free," Percy insisted. " _Everyone_ , including Valdez. Swear on the Styx." He didn't hold any allusions of Pasiphae sticking to the deal if he beat Antaeus, but it was worth a try.

"Oh, I swear to your terms," Antaeus rumbled as he took a step forward. "But I also swear that after I rip the head from your body, I will tear your friends apart, limb by limb."

That seemed like a pretty bad deal to Percy, but after exchanging glances with Annabeth and Jason, he said, "Okay."

"Now," Antaeus continued, "by the ancient laws, we would fight in the nude."

Heat rushed to Percy's cheeks. "Dude, that is so _not happening_." He could fight with no weapon; he refused to fight with no pants.

The _cynocephalus_ growled and the Laistrygonian ogre said, "At least lose the shirt and shoes. That's fair. Antaeus has no shirt."

"Antaeus could put more clothes on," Percy offered.

"Lose the shirt and shoes," the Laistrygonian insisted. "That way, when Antaeus catches you, you can't wriggle out of your shirt. That would be an unfair advantage."

Percy's stomach clenched, but he caught Jason's eye. His friend shrugged, like, _Best you can do, man._ Resigned, Percy kicked off his battered Brooks, peeled off his socks, stuffed them in the toes of his shoes, and pulled his t-shirt off over his head.

"Give them to the son of Jupiter," Antaeus instructed. "Your sword, as well."

Jason's blue eyes were icy as he fixed them on the giant, but he held out his arms. Percy handed him the shirt and shoes, then took Riptide out of his pocket and laid the pen on top of his t-shirt. As Percy turned back to face Antaeus again, his eyes fell on one of the bronze statues lining the room.

What had Pasiphae said about the place? _It was one of the inventor's favorite rooms_.

 _The inventor_ …Daedalus…the statues. A plan came together in Percy's mind so fast he was stunned at his own moment of genius. But how to convey it to the others?

"The terms have been set!" Antaeus announced. "Clear the ring, so the fight can begin!"

"Good luck, man." Jason clapped him on the back, then lowered his voice. "And, listen, I believe in honor as much as anyone, but against him," he grimaced, "I'd fight dirty."

"You're smaller and lighter." Annabeth's gray eyes were storm dark with worry. "You can wear him down. Just don't let him grab you."

"I'll do my best," Percy said.

"I'm waiting, brother," Antaeus called from across the room, where his Laistrygonian buddy was massaging his shoulders. That was a visual Percy really didn't need.

"We've got your back," Jason said before moving to join the others.

Annabeth squeezed his hand and turned to follow Jason, but Percy pulled her back. "Annabeth, wait." He tried to look scared, which wasn't hard. He gave her a weak smile. "Do I get a kiss for luck? Tradition, right?"

Annabeth's brows were drawn together in concern, but she managed a small smile. "Sure, Seaweed Brain."

Percy pulled her close and kissed her. Not just a peck on the lips, either. This was the kind of kiss he normally only gave her when it was just the two of them, alone. He felt a little uncomfortable doing this in front of their friends and enemies, but that was part of the plan; hopefully people were awkwardly looking away. When Annabeth pressed closer to him, Percy figured this wasn't the worst plan he'd ever come up with. Her fingertips against his bare chest made his nerves dance.

Sooner than he wanted to, Percy pulled away, just enough to murmur against her lips, "Daedalus twenty-three."

From her sharp intake of breath, he knew she'd understood. "Brilliant," she breathed, which wasn't a compliment he got from his girlfriend very often. She kissed him again, quickly. "Just focus on what you need to do. Stay alive. I love you."

"Love you, too." Just in case his plan went to Hades, which it probably would, he definitely wanted those to be his last words to her.

As Annabeth went back to their friends, Percy faced Antaeus, who had finished his massage and was now standing in the middle of the room. The giant grinned cruelly. "A last kiss, Percy Jackson?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw Annabeth throw her arms around Piper, like she was breaking down and sobbing. After a moment, Piper's eyes widened just the tiniest bit. She made a good show of patting Annabeth on the back and gesturing for Hazel and Calypso to come closer. Percy smiled grimly. "Something like that."

* * *

The fight was rough. Percy got in a few punches, but they didn't seem to do much damage. He spent most of his time dipping, dodging, and ducking around Antaeus, not allowing the giant to grab hold of him. Antaeus bellowed in frustration as he chased him around the ring and called him a coward, but Percy refused to be baited. If the giant grabbed him, Percy knew there was a good chance his head would end up no longer attached to his body.

The monsters lining the walls jeered and shouted as the fight progressed. Pasiphae cackled insanely from her seat at the top of the hall. Percy's friends moved around the room, too, cheering him on, but always edging closer to the statues, Daedalus's automatons, lining the walls.

Percy's luck began to run out, though. He was getting tired. A couple of times, when Antaeus tried to grab him, he was a little too slow and ended up getting punched in the ribs. The giant was trying to grab him, like a wrestler, not hit him, but colliding with one of those fists was like being slammed by a boulder. Percy also failed to notice that their fight had taken them to the edge of the room until his back bumped up against the wall. Antaeus stood ten feet away, leering at him. Percy was cornered.

He glanced up, hoping to see something he could use, but there was nothing. Antaeus grinned, showing off every one of his wave-carved teeth. "No chains to save you this time, son of the sea god. This time, you are mine."

Antaeus charged forward, hands outstretched, and Percy thought, _Well, this is it._

And then a bronze centaur statue slammed into Antaeus, knocking the giant to the ground.

"What the—" Antaeus started to say as he got to his knees. But before he could finish the thought, the bronze tip of a sword exploded from his chest. Antaeus bellowed in pain. Grains of sand trickled weakly from between the marble tiles of the floor, maybe the last essence of Gaea trying to heal her son, but it wasn't enough. Antaeus crumbled into a pile of sand. Behind him stood Annabeth, still holding Riptide.

"You are _freaking_ incredible," Percy told his girlfriend.

"Thanks." She held out a hand to help him up. "You okay?"

"I think so." Percy looked around the room, where all Hades was breaking loose. The bronze automatons had come to life and were now whaling on the monsters, who, surprised, were a little slow to defend themselves. The statues were helped by Percy's friends. Leo lobbed balls of fire, incinerating a group of Laistrygonian cannibals. Jason and Piper mowed through a crowd of _cynocephali_ , while Frank and Will shot arrow after arrow, bringing down the demons flying above the battle. Hazel, Nico, and Calypso were taking on Pasiphae. As Percy watched, the sorceress went down with a scream and disappeared in an oily cloud of black smoke. The rest of the monsters were either destroyed or ran back through the bronze doors into the Labyrinth. Soon, the only ones left in the chamber were the demigods.

"Good plan, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth observed. She handed Percy his shirt and shoes. "I grabbed these from Jason. Put your clothes back on. We need to get out of here before reinforcements show up."

* * *

Hazel led them through a door at the far end of the room and down a dozen more twisting corridors. They ended up in a red brick tunnel, like a fancy sewer, which seemed to go for miles. Percy could almost believe they were running underneath the Atlantic Ocean; the tunnel felt about that long. Eventually, though, the red brick tunnel ran out…at a dead end.

Hazel stomped her foot. "I don't understand. Hades _promised_ me this was the right way. Of course, he didn't mention anything about the stupid arena, but…"

"Maybe it's a false door." Leo pulled a small hammer from his tool belt and began tapping the bricks, listening for a hollow sound behind them.

"It has to be the way forward," Hazel insisted. "I can _feel_ a presence on the other side. Something is using the Mist."

"Maybe you have to tap the bricks in a certain pattern," Will Solace suggested. "You know, like the entrance to Diagon Alley."

Everyone stared at him.

"What? Haven't any of you read Harry Potter?" When they all shook their heads, Will looked shocked. Percy was pretty sure he heard the son of Apollo mutter under his breath, " _Cretins_."

"Anyway," Nico said, turning back to the wall, "I think you're right, Hazel. I can sense something on the other side of the door, too. A presence from the Underworld. And it's strong."

"Oh yeah, that really makes me want to find a way through," Leo said, though he kept tapping the bricks with his hammer.

Annabeth frowned as she studied the wall. "Look at the stones in the corners. There's some sort of carving there." As she knelt to examine the one in the lower corner of the door, she lost her balance and had to put a hand against the right side wall to steady herself. Then, she gasped. "Oh my gods."

The mark of Daedalus, the blue Greek _delta_ , blazed on the wall, right above Annabeth's fingertips.

Percy felt a shiver run down his spine. "It's Daedalus."

Nico's eyes widened. "That's the old symbol of the maze."

"But what does it mean?" Calypso asked.

Annabeth rose shakily to her feet. "I think—I think it means we need to go this way. Daedalus is helping us."

"But there's still no door," Frank pointed out.

"Hold on." Annabeth pressed her hand against the bricks again, right in the center of the triangle. The wall melted away, revealing a ruined temple with mountains in the background.

At the same moment, Pasiphae's symbol, the green miniature Labyrinth, blazed to life on the dead end wall. Hazel and Leo, who were closest to the wall, both took a step back.

"Drachma says if you touch that symbol, it'll open another door," Percy offered.

"I'm not taking that bet," Leo replied.

"Which way?" Calypso asked.

Percy caught Annabeth's eye and knew they were thinking the same thing. But it was Nico who spoke. "I'd rather trust Daedalus than Pasiphae."

"Agreed," Jason said.

"Especially since," Hazel glanced at Pasiphae's symbol again, "there's something _very_ dark behind that wall."

"The Daedalus way it is," Percy said, and he led the way into the ruins.

* * *

 *****Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the chapter! So, just a quick note, because of exciting news from Rick Riordan: There's going to be a third Percy Jackson series! The Trials of Apollo will follow the god Apollo (post-** _ **Blood of Olympus**_ **), who's been stripped of his godly powers by Zeus and dropped into a dumpster in New York City. The first book,** _ **The Hidden Oracle**_ **, will be published May 3! And apparently all the characters from HoO will make an appearance. Should be good! (And it will probably make this story AU, but oh well, that's okay).**

 **Also, finished reading Magnus Chase, which was awesome. Plenty of humor and heart, and I definitely learned more about the Norse gods. Very fun read! Looking forward to the second book, which comes out October 2016. All sorts of good books coming out next year!**

 **And as for this story, I'm working on the next chapter now. Should be up soon!*****


	18. Chapter XVII: Piper, Frank, Jason

*****Thank you to the reviewers! You make my day! Here's the next chapter—it actually goes through three different characters' POVs. Hope you enjoy! Next one should hopefully be up next week. Have a great weekend!*****

* * *

 **CHAPTER XVII**

 **PIPER**

The moment she stepped out into the ruins, Piper felt a thrumming sensation in the air. Vibrations ran through her body, like she'd been turned into a tuning fork. Judging by their surprised faces, her friends felt it, too.

"There is some serious magic going on," Hazel said in awe.

"And the spirit world is close." Nico frowned. "The veil is thin here."

"The ancient Greeks called Delphi the _omphalos_ , the navel of the world." Annabeth rested her hand against one of the crumbling stone columns. "It's a powerful place."

"And yet it looks like all the other rubble we saw all over Greece last summer," Leo said.

Calypso smacked his arm. "Be respectful. The heart of the Oracle is here."

Frank looked uneasily around the empty ruins. "Aren't Nyx and Python supposed to be here, too? The place looks pretty deserted."

"There's a cave." Will Solace pointed up at the jagged hills towering above them. "It's obscured from mortal vision by the Mist, but it's the place where my dad originally defeated Python. I'm guessing the snake is using it as a hideout again."

"That's stupid," Percy said, "to use the same hideout as last time."

Will flashed him a grin. "Python's nasty and evil, but no one ever said he was smart."

"Who needs brains when you're a giant, man-eating snake?" Leo muttered.

Jason studied the cliff critically. "I could fly up and see if anyone's at the top."

"I'll go," Frank offered. "A demigod flying up there might be a little obvious, but hopefully no one will notice a hawk. Sharper eyesight, too."

Jason nodded. "Good point."

Piper's heart beat faster as Frank turned into a bird of prey and spiraled up towards the top of the cliffs. She felt edgy, uneasy, as if she was waiting for someone to jump out and yell, "Boo!" Beside her, Hazel was tense, keeping her eyes on Frank as his form grew smaller and smaller before fading into the darkening sky. Piper prayed silently that he would be okay. She didn't know why she was so concerned; Frank had scouted around in animal form plenty of times before. And Delphi was a beautiful, peaceful place, with the ancient columns set on a hillside overlooking a sprawl of mountains. But something about the ruins and the whole site of Delphi felt very off; Piper just couldn't put her finger on what exactly was wrong.

There was a startled squawk from the darkness above. Suddenly, Frank hurtled back down, wings tucked in, diving as fast as he could. He turned back into a human before he lost any momentum and went tumbling straight into Jason and Nico.

"Frank!" Hazel exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked urgently.

"Get—back." Frank sounded out of breath as he untangled himself from Jason and Nico, but his voice was deadly serious. "Against—the cliffs. Now!"

They all obeyed instantly. And not a moment too soon. Jason had barely flattened himself against the stones beside Piper before a column of black fire blasted down from the cliff, sweeping across the ruins in front of the demigods. Not even the grass was burned, but Piper could feel the heat of the flames searing her skin. She was pretty sure if they'd all still been standing out among the ruins, they would have been barbequed.

As the flames receded, a wild laugh echoed from the cliffs above them, accompanied by a hissing wheeze. Piper slipped her hand into Jason's.

"That was for you, Leo Valdez!" Nyx's voice echoed against the mountains. "You destroyed Gaea with fire. So it is by fire that _we_ will destroy _you_ and your pathetic friends."

Leo gritted his teeth. "Okay, lady, now it's personal."

"Come up to us, demigods." The new voice which spoke was an ancient, evil hiss. Piper felt the words slither across the back of her neck, sending cold chills down her spine. Python. "I don't want to roast you at the bottom of the cliff. I prefer my meat fresh and piping hot."

"Frank, what did you see up there?" Nico asked.

Even in the dim light, his face was bloodless. "Nyx and Python are at the top of that cliff, in a cave about fifty meters deep."

"And how long is that in—" Percy started to ask.

"Half a football field," Hazel answered quickly. "Go on, Frank."

"They have this bonfire. They—they were roasting a—a Cyclops. And eating it!" He shuddered. "After everything we've seen, that shouldn't bother me so much, but it was about the creepiest thing I've ever seen."

Piper's stomach twisted. The idea of Nyx and Python at the top of the cliff, chowing down on cooked Cyclops, made her want to vomit. She swallowed down her nausea. "Were there any other monsters with them?"

Frank shook his head. "None that I could see."

"Probably didn't want to be dessert," Percy said.

Annabeth grimaced. "I don't even _like_ Cyclopes and I still think that's pretty sick. We've got to get up there, though. It's the only way to take them out."

"But they can obviously smell our scent," Jason pointed out. "Hard to launch a sneak attack when the enemy already knows you're there. And I have a feeling a frontal assault will just end up with us getting roasted."

"Generally, I prefer to avoid being roasted," Leo said.

"Agreed," Annabeth said. "I have a plan, though. And hopefully no one will get roasted. Leo, do you have any of those scent-shielding orbs you told me about?"

"Actually, yeah." Leo reached into his tool belt and pulled out a Celestial bronze sphere the size of a grapefruit. Piper caught a whiff of Axe body spray. "Calypso brought them from Bunker Nine. I've got a dozen in here. And I think I see where you're going with this."

Annabeth nodded. "If we can disguise our scent with the spheres, we can sneak up the mountain and launch a surprise attack. I hate to say it, but that might be our best chance."

Percy raised his hand. "One question. How do we launch a surprise attack when they already know we're here?"

Annabeth smiled in a truly evil way. "We just need to convince them we're gone."

* * *

Hazel was an excellent actress. If Piper hadn't known better, she totally would have bought the act. Standing amidst the ruins of a temple, clearly visible from the top of the cliffs, Hazel sobbed and pleaded with Annabeth, Frank, Leo, and Nico. "Please, guys, we need to leave. We can—we can go back to camp, get reinforcements, and come back. I don't—," she gave a very convincing hiccup, "I don't want to die again. Please."

Leo put a tentative hand on her shoulder. His voice was shaky as he said, "I gotta agree with Levesque here. Dying sucks." His nose burst into flames and he quickly patted it out, doing a good job of looking embarrassed. "Oops. Hate when that happens."

Annabeth stomped her foot. "Hazel, Leo, I'm sorry, but I still say we need to fight. This might be our one chance—"

"To die tragic, noble deaths?" Nico said, his voice laced with sarcasm. "I'm pretty sure we'd have the same opportunity tomorrow, even with reinforcements. And I've seen the Underworld. The longer we can avoid going there, the better."

Frank rubbed his chin. "I think they're right, Annabeth. We should come back tomorrow, with reinforcements from the camps." Piper winced. Compared to the others, Frank sounded like he was reading from a script. But hopefully Nyx and Python wouldn't notice.

They were banking on the idea that the goddess and the serpent could hear almost everything they said. But even if they couldn't, it would be clear from the theatrics that a disagreement was going on. And once they walked away, back down the mountainside, hopefully that would convince the monsters they were leaving. Then, they would use the scent-cloaking spheres Leo had designed to disguise themselves as they climbed back up.

"What do you guys think?" Annabeth turned to where Piper, Jason, Percy, Will, and Calypso were appearing to have their own, quieter discussion.

"It's not a bad idea," Will said. "I'd like a whole battalion of Apollo's archers with us to go up against Python."

"Agreed," Calypso said.

"Percy?" Annabeth appealed to her boyfriend.

Percy shuffled his feet, looking convincingly guilty. "You have to admit, waiting might be the better strategy."

Annabeth looked appropriately shocked before crossing her arms in a huff.

Jason glanced uneasily at the cave entrance high above their heads. "Maybe this isn't the best place to discuss strategy."

"Look," Piper said, holding up her hands in a placating gesture, "let's just go back to the maze. We can figure things out there. Hazel, where's the nearest entrance?"

Hazel sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Well, we can't go back the way we came. That entrance is closed. The closest one should be at the bottom of the mountain, in town."

"Then I say we head there," Percy said. "We can regroup and strategize from the maze."

"And bring in reinforcements," Leo added.

"Yeah, that too," Percy said.

"Fine," Annabeth agreed sullenly, though Piper could see the sparkle in her friend's gray eyes; hopefully they had pulled it off.

No black fire incinerated them as they headed out of the ruins and began to make their way down the mountain road. Night was falling (the time of day, not the goddess) and the road turned from gray to black in front of them, making it dangerous to walk. When they were about a quarter of a mile away, Leo summoned a handful of fire.

"This way," Hazel whispered. She led them off the road, through a copse of trees, and to a shallow cave in the base of the mountain. "This should work for our _real_ strategy meeting."

* * *

 **FRANK**

The crackling flames from the fire Leo had set up in the middle of the cave didn't bother Frank. Their plan did, though.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked Hazel nervously.

"Positive." The fake tears were long gone; she looked as confident as always. "Nyx and Python will see what they expect to see. I mean, wasn't that the whole point of our little show back there?"

"True," Leo said, chucking another handful of flames into the fire. "By the way, when we get back, remind me to nominate you for an Oscar, Levesque."

Hazel blushed. "Anyway, is everything ready?"

"It will be just as soon as Piper and Jason get back," Annabeth said. "I hope they found a store open."

"If not, Piper could always sweet talk somebody into giving them clothes," Leo said.

This part of the plan had been Frank's idea. He didn't want to just rely on magical concealment (especially since Valdez's inventions had been known to malfunction from time to time). So Jason and Piper had flown down to a town at the base of the mountain to buy dark clothes for all of them. Frank figured it couldn't hurt to take the extra precaution.

Frank observed his friends while they waited for Jason and Piper to return. Percy and Annabeth were talking quietly. Calypso was leaning her head against Leo's shoulder while he tended the fire. Nico was staring into the flames, twisting his silver skull ring around his finger. Will was riffling through his first-aid kit, apparently checking to make sure he had what he needed. Given what they were about to face, Frank was surprised everyone seemed so calm.

His own nerves were on edge, and not just because of the enemies they were facing. For some reason, he couldn't get the image of Ella reciting the prophecy out of his mind.

" _Seven heroes' vanquished foes,_

 _Rise to avenge the earth mother's woes._

 _Blood secures the rise of night,_

 _Serpent and goddess shall unite._

 _The son of the elder god will fall,_

 _Spirit returned to the sun god's call."_

The first four lines were done; their foes had risen to avenge Gaea's woes and Nyx had used a cocktail of their blood to rise before uniting with Python. Yippee. But it was the final two lines which were bothering Frank now. " _The son of the elder god will fall, spirit returned to the sun god's call_." Initially, he'd thought that the spirit referred to was the fallen demigod's, but now he wasn't sure. Maybe it meant the spirit of Delphi, assuming they could take down Python and Nyx. But that still didn't help with the most ominous line from the prophecy: _The son of the elder god will fall_. Despite what he'd said before, Frank didn't see any other way to interpret that line; it sounded like one of his friends was going to die. His eyes fell on Nico, sitting across the fire from him. Originally, they'd all believed that line could only refer to Jason or Percy. But it could refer to Nico, too.

Frank was shaken out of his thoughts when Hazel scooted closer to him and slipped her hand into his. "Everything okay?"

Frank realized he was scowling into the fire. He forced himself to smile at his girlfriend. "Yeah. Just thinking."

Hazel squeezed his hand. "Don't worry, Frank. We can do this."

"I hope so." He loved the way the firelight made Hazel's eyes shine like molten gold. "Just promise me you'll be careful up there."

"Of course." She kissed his cheek. "Besides, you'll be right behind us for back-up."

The nervous tightness was still in Frank's chest, but he was distracted at that moment by the crunch of leaves and twigs. Everyone tensed, and half a dozen hands went to their weapons, but it was only Piper and Jason.

"We brought new outfits," Piper announced, holding up her shopping bags stuffed with clothes. "Hope everybody is cool wearing black."

* * *

"But I'm already wearing black," Nico complained as Jason passed him a long-sleeved black shirt and black jeans.

"Actually, your shirt is only dark gray," Will pointed out. "And your jeans have so many holes, they look half white."

Nico shot him a dirty look, but he reluctantly took the new clothes from Jason and ducked behind a tree to change.

The girls had kicked the guys out of the cave while they changed, so the boys were getting dressed amidst the trees. Frank actually liked his new black cargo pants, but his t-shirt was a little snug. Nico emerged from behind his tree looking grumpy, but slightly less rumpled than normal in his new clothes.

When all six guys were dressed, Leo called into the cave, "Can we come back in?"

"Just a sec," Piper called back. After a few more seconds, she said, "Okay, we're good. You can come back in."

When everyone was gathered together, all dressed in black, Frank secretly thought they looked like they were getting ready to pull off a heist, like in _Ocean's Eleven_. Either that, or they were headed to the world's most casual funeral. Oh, bad thought. _Don't think about funerals before going into combat_ , he chided himself.

Leo was looking critically around the cave. He reached into his tool belt and pulled out three black woolen hats. "Okay, blond people. I think you need these." He passed one each to Jason, Annabeth, and Will, then grabbed a fourth. "And maybe you, too, Sunshine."

Calypso took the hat he passed her. "Not a bad idea."

She and Annabeth tucked their long hair up into the hats, while Jason and Will pulled their hats snug around their ears. Once they were all covered, Leo said, "Great. Now we look ready to rob a bank."

"Fantastic," Piper said. "Do you have the spheres?"

"Right here, Beauty Queen." Leo reached into his tool belt again and withdrew several grapefruit sized spheres. He began handing them out. "Just clip this onto your belt, press the button on the bottom, and in two minutes, we should be good to go."

"Should be?" Frank asked as he clipped on his own sphere.

"Well, yeah." Leo finished handing out the orbs and clipped his own to the outside of his tool belt. "I mean, Percy's buddy Grover couldn't smell anything. And I've been walking around in the woods at camp wearing one and nothing's attacked me."

"So, basically, this is the field test?" Will asked.

"Um, pretty much." Leo grinned. "But I'm sure they'll work."

"Let's hope," Percy said. "Our plan kind of depends on it."

"They'll work," Hazel said confidently. "Now, are we ready to go?"

The gravity of the situation settled over them all at those words. Frank took a deep breath. "Let's do this."

* * *

 **JASON**

Jason pulled Piper aside into the trees as the girls were leaving to execute the first part of the plan. "Hey, Pipes, just be careful up there, okay?"

"I will be." In the faint firelight still spilling from the cave, she looked like a really hot commando with her Boread sword and her new black clothes. "You be careful, too, Sparky."

"I'll try." Jason smiled, then wrapped his arms around her waist, tugging her close and kissing her. Her lips tasted faintly of cinnamon. "Love you, Pipes."

"Love you, too." She smiled as she stepped away. "See you at the top."

Feeling jittery, Jason walked back into the cave and leaned against the wall. None of the other guys were sitting down either. There was nothing to do now, though, but wait.

Percy had his hands shoved in his pockets, his eyes fixed on the dying fire. Will and Nico were standing in the shadows, having a quiet conversation, while Leo was fiddling with some pieces of wire and metal from his tool belt. Frank was standing near the entrance of the cave, his brow furrowed, using a stick to trace what may have been battle plans in the dirt there. Jason was mentally counting in his head. When he got to a thousand, he figured that would be a good time to go after the girls. Even with the demigod scent cloaking devices, they hadn't wanted to all head back at once; it might have given them away. Piper, Hazel, Annabeth, and Calypso had set off first, since they were going to be causing the distraction.

When he got to a thousand, Jason said, "Let's go."

As quietly as possible, they moved back up the mountain. Jason's heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his fingertips. He really hoped the spheres worked; otherwise, they could be walking into an ambush.

However, they got back to the ruins of Delphi with no problem. The girls weren't there. Jason craned his neck, trying to see up the side of the mountain, but if they were scaling the cliff as planned, he couldn't see them. Of course, it was now so dark out that he could barely see his friends gathered around him. In fact, it took him a minute to realize that Frank was trying to get his attention. Through a series of elaborate hand gestures, the son of Mars suggested that they move farther back down the hill. Jason and Leo exchanged befuddled glances, but they, along with Percy, Nico, and Will, followed Frank a little ways back down the hill.

When they were again hidden under the shelter of the trees, Frank whispered, "I think we need to change the plan."

"Dude, the girls are already up there," Percy said. "It's too late to change the plan."

Frank shook his head. "I mean just our part of it. Instead of going up in one big group, I think we should split up."

Nico narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when Annabeth gives the signal, Valdez, Solace, and I will go up first. And then you three," Frank pointed to Jason, Percy, and Nico, "will follow us. You can be the 'shock and awe' factor."

A crease appeared between Percy's eyebrows. "Doesn't the shock and awe part usually come first?"  
"Usually," Frank admitted. "But I think this will work better. Between the three of you, you can probably create a killer entrance. And this way, we can see what we're working with up top before we commit all of our forces."

Leo nodded slowly. "That makes sense. Hey, Superman, remember your entrance to that tower where I beat up the dwarves?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Will asked, but Jason knew exactly what Leo was talking about.

"You're saying we should come in with fireworks?"

"Yeah," Leo agreed, clearly warming up to the idea. "Like a finale to the fight or something."

Percy still didn't look convinced. "Do you really think that will help, though?"

"It'll look impressive," Will said thoughtfully. "That may make Nyx and Python pause. And a little uncertainty on their part can't hurt us."

Jason glanced at Percy, then Nico. "Okay, why not? When Annabeth gives the signal—"

A burst of green flame exploded from the mouth of the cave. Greek fire.

"That's the signal!" Leo said.

"Alright, go," Percy said. "But what's our signal to follow you guys?"

"How about my sonic whistle?" Will asked.

"That'll have the added benefit of blowing out Nyx's eardrums," Nico said.

"Exactly." Will grinned.

"Sounds good," Jason agreed. "Now go!"

Frank turned into a dragon. Leo secured his tool belt, then climbed onto Frank's back. "Solace, you coming?"

"Yep." But instead of going to the dragon, Will put his hand behind Nico's neck and kissed him. "Try not to die, di Angelo."

Before Nico could respond, Will vaulted onto Dragon Frank's back behind Leo and they took off.

Nico blinked, looking like he'd been smacked between the eyeballs. Jason couldn't fight down his grin. "About time."

Nico's cheeks reddened. "Oh, shut up." But he didn't look too upset.

Percy chuckled. "Good for you, man. Now, how are we going to make this grand entrance?"

Sitting at the bottom of the cliff, it only took them about a minute to decide what they wanted to do. Jason had to admit, if they could pull it off, it would look pretty sweet. Now, all they had to do was wait for Will's signal.

A piercing scream broke through the night, cutting Jason to the core. He shot to his feet. "We have to go."

Nico scrambled to his feet. "We're supposed to wait for Will's signal."

"That's the new signal." Jason's fists clenched. "That was Piper screaming."


	19. Chapter XVIII: Piper

*****Wow, it's been a while since I updated. Life got busy and writer's block got in the way on this one. But it's done now! After this one, there's only one chapter left, and then the epilogue. We're close to the end! Hope you enjoy this chapter!*****

* * *

 **CHAPTER XVIII: PIPER**

Thanks to Leo's spheres, the girls had been able to sneak up to the cave unnoticed. The fight started off well. Hazel, with a little help from Calypso, pulled out some excellent tricks with the Mist. Plus, they'd found an unexpected ally in the cavern.

Ma Gasket, the Cyclops lady, was there. Her bunches of greasy hair had come undone and now hung in straggly strands down her back. Her chainmail muumuu appeared to be unraveling, the links melted and dented in places. When Piper had snuck into the cave, the Cyclops lady's eye had been fixed on the bonfire which Nyx and Python were sitting beside, their backs to the cave entrance. Nyx looked just as terrifying as she had at the North Pole, twenty feet tall, in a smoky black dress, a starry whip in her hand. Python's coils glimmered poison green; his body was as thick as a school bus. The remains of a Cyclops on a spit simmered over the fire. The sight made Piper's stomach turn over.

"They flame-broiled my boys, Piper McLean," Ma Gasket told her. "It'll be a century at least before my boys come back from Tartarus."

Piper never thought she would feel bad for the Cyclops lady, but no one deserved to have their children murdered before their eyes, not even a monster. With genuine sympathy and just a touch of charmspeak, Piper had convinced Ma Gasket to help her and her friends take out Nyx and Python. Which had turned out to be a brilliant strategy—the Cyclops lady was almost single-handedly taking on Python. She was helped now by Frank and Will, who had appeared with Leo after Annabeth tossed the signal vial of Greek fire over the side of the cliff.

A bonfire blazed in the center of the cavern, tossing strange and eerie shadows on the walls and leaving Piper's hands slippery with sweat, making it difficult to hold her sword. She, Hazel, Annabeth, Leo, and Calypso were taking on Nyx, who was more than a match for the five of them.

"Where is Jason?" Piper asked Leo as she dodged a crack of the goddess's smoky whip.

"And Percy and Nico?" Annabeth added, getting a slice into the wing of the goddess, who shrieked in fury.

Leo's face was sweaty and soot-streaked. "Waiting for our signal. They're our shock-and-awe final assault. Plus, you know," he lobbed a fireball at Nyx and winced, "the prophecy."

Piper and Annabeth exchanged grim looks, but neither of them argued with that logic. They didn't have time, anyway, as Nyx raised her arms. The cavern trembled and a dozen demons clawed their way to the surface. They looked like evil grandmothers in tattered black dresses, with bat wings, gleaming talons, and red eyes.

The demigods gathered in a defensive line. Out of the corner of her eye, Piper saw Ma Gasket swing a hammer into Python's tail while Frank, as a rhino, charged the serpent, and Will Solace dodged around the snake with a knife in his hand, leaving numerous cuts across its scales. His bow was slung over his shoulder, but Piper guessed he wasn't using it because he didn't want to hit Frank or Ma Gasket.

She registered all this in the split second before her attention was drawn back to the demons now circling around Nyx.

" _Arai_ ," Annabeth growled. "I hate these things."

"How do we kill them?" Calypso asked.

"You don't," Hazel said. A cut on her forehead was trickling blood into her eye, which she impatiently brushed away. "If you kill them, they curse you."

Annabeth nodded. "Of course, if you don't kill them, they try to eat your face."

"So, basically, they suck," Leo summed up.

"Basically," Annabeth agreed.

They had no more time to talk strategy, though, as the flock of _arai_ descended on them. Piper tried to disarm or injure them, but the _arai_ died so easily. She smacked one with the hilt of her sword and it burst into dust, leaving her shivering, teeth chattering from cold; she assumed she had Khione to thank for that curse. A few feet away from her, Leo hissed, his face scrunched in pain. "Electric shocks...gotta be the freaking eidolons from Rome."

On the other side of Nyx, Hazel stabbed an _arai_ and immediately doubled over, gagging and wheezing.

"Hazel!" Piper slashed through two more demons trying to get to her friend and ended up with a stomachache and a piercing pain in her pinky finger. Really? Who cursed her with that?

When Piper reached her, Hazel held up a hand. She was wheezing. "I'm okay. It's Gaea." She doubled over again. "Feels like I'm drowning in muskeg again, when I turned down her offer."

Piper helped Hazel to her feet and they stood back to back, facing half a dozen _arai_ , who leered menacingly. Before Piper could decide which to risk killing first, Annabeth shrieked. The dust of an _arai_ rained down around her as the back of her shirt bloomed with blood. She dropped to her hands and knees. Piper watched in horror as another _arai_ loomed over her friend. Annabeth's fingers fumbled for her dropped sword, but she was moving slowly, clearly in pain. The _arai_ raised its claws…

…and then burst into a cloud of monster dust.

Where the demon had been, Calypso was now standing, a dagger raised, her normally calm face fierce. A second _arai_ lunged at her and she destroyed that one, too.

The remaining _arai_ hissed in unison. They spoke in one disembodied voice that chilled Piper even more than Khione's curse. "Why do you not suffer our curses?"

Calypso laughed bitterly. "I spent three thousand years under a curse bestowed upon me by the Olympians themselves. There is nothing you _minor_ demons can do to hurt me." She stepped in front of Annabeth, shielding her. "And now, I will destroy you."

Calmly and devastatingly, Calypso whirled through the remaining demons, reducing them to dust. Within moments, the _arai_ were gone.

Leo gaped at his girlfriend. "Where in holy Hades did you learn to do _that_?"

Calypso smiled and gave a one-armed shrug. "I didn't spend _all_ my time gardening."

Nyx wailed in fury. "No! I will raise more demons from the depths! I will call upon my children and they will destroy you! I will—"

The litany of horrible things she would do to them all was interrupted by a screech of agony. Piper and everyone else whipped toward the fight with Python just in time to see the serpent sink his teeth through Ma Gasket's body.

Frank, back in human form, dragged Will out of the way as the serpent and the Cyclops thrashed around, Ma Gasket smacking her fist against Python's snout. But she was losing the fight. As Piper watched, horrified, Python spat the Cyclops out. Venomous green lines traced through Ma Gasket's veins and with a final, agonized cry, the Cyclops lady burst into dust.

Python hissed in triumph and Nyx cackled gleefully. Piper took advantage of their inattention to run to Annabeth's side. Annabeth had struggled to her feet; her sword was in her hand, but the back of her shirt was soaked in blood. She answered Piper's unspoken question through gritted teeth. "Kelli. A curse from that stupid demon for stabbing her in the back."

"Are you—" Piper didn't get to finish asking if her friend was okay. Python lashed out, whipping his body across the floor and sweeping the demigods off their feet. Piper screamed as she slammed against the stone wall. Her ribs cracked and pain bloomed in her chest. Dazed, she lay there as the serpent drew himself up, Nyx beside him. Her friends were scattered around the cavern, groaning, no one on their feet.

"Foolish mortals," Python hissed. "You cannot stop us. We will devour you, and then..."

"We march on Olympus," Nyx declared. "With an army of horrors from the Pit himself!"

Python bared his fangs. Nyx cracked her whip. Piper tried to reach her sword, but her arm was numb and pain made her gasp. Around the cavern, her friends weren't faring much better.

That was when the storm hit.

* * *

The wind howled, sweeping around the cavern, flattening everyone against the ground. Lightning flickered, zapping Nyx and Python, who wailed. The bones of the Cyclopes lying around the cavern knit themselves back into ten foot tall skeleton warriors as a hurricane rose into the mouth of the cave. The clouds parted just enough to reveal three figures in the eye of the storm: Jason, Percy, and Nico, faces fierce, swords drawn.

Piper gaped. Goosebumps rose on her arms. It was a terrifying, impressive sight.

Nyx dove aside as Jason flew toward her. Nico charged after him, while the Cyclops skeletons swarmed Python. Percy, too, charged at the snake.

As the fight grew in intensity, Piper became aware that she was still lying against the cavern wall, staring like an idiot. So were the rest of her friends; Jason, Percy, and Nico's entrance had left them all shell-shocked. Hazel was the first to recover.

"Come on!" She grabbed her sword and charged at Nyx, who was cracking her whip, trying to swat Jason out of the air.

Piper struggled to her feet, ribs throbbing, and snatched up her own sword. She joined Hazel and Nico in dodging around Nyx's flashing whip, trying to score a hit on the goddess.

Piper dodged and stabbed, her entire focus on the fight. Occasionally, just to throw Nyx off, she yelled charmspeak commands like, "Look left! No, your other left! Turn around!" The goddess was growing frustrated, but it wasn't enough. Dimly, Piper could hear shouts and the clangs of weapons from the others' battle with Python. The boys' dramatic entrance had given the demigods a brief edge in the fight, but that was wearing off now. Shrieks, yells, and thuds coming from the fight with Python indicated that possibly some of her friends had gotten thrown into the walls by the snake again.

Nyx caught Jason across the back with the edge of her whip. He cried out and hit the ground, the back of his t-shirt in tatters. Piper gasped, but he was back on his feet the next second, sword in hand. Piper's cracked ribs burned and her swings were slowing down, but she stayed on her feet. Her friends needed her.

Their break finally came when Hazel rolled behind Nyx and thrust the point of her sword into the small of the goddess's back. Nyx screeched. When she turned to attack Hazel, Nico stepped in and drove his Stygian iron blade into Nyx's rib cage. Stones cracked as the goddess screamed. Her quasar eyes were scorching as she turned them on the son of Hades.

Nico calmly withdrew his sword, facing down the goddess on her knees. "By the power of the Underworld, I banish you back to Tartarus."

"I am the primordial goddess of night," Nyx jeered. "The power of your worthless father cannot restrain me."

"But the power of the River Styx will." Nico swung his Stygian sword, slicing through the goddess's neck. Nyx exploded into shadows. The shockwave flung the demigods to the ground and flattened Python. The Cyclops skeletons collapsed back into piles of bones.

For a moment, there was silence. The only sound Piper heard was the pounding of her own heart. Shakily, she got to her knees.

Nyx was gone.

"NO!" Python wailed. The serpent thrashed around the cavern, sending the demigods scrambling for cover to avoid being squashed. The serpent fixed his glowing orange eyes on Nico who still stood, chest heaving, in the spot where he had deported the goddess back to Tartarus. Eerily slowly, Python began to slither toward Nico. "You worthless runt of a half-blood. You will pay for ruining our plans!"

Several things happened at once. Python, fangs gleaming, lunged across the bonfire at Nico. Hazel shrieked, "No!" Across the cavern, Will drew back his bowstring, and Percy charged out of nowhere, tackling Nico out of the path of the snake.

There was a twang as Will loosed his arrow and a satisfying thud as it sank into Python's forehead.

But it wasn't fast enough. As Nico tumbled out of the way, Python struck. Piper wasn't sure which was worse: Percy's strangled yelp as the fangs sank into his body, or Annabeth's scream.

There was a wet thunk as Will's second arrow hit home in Python's right eye. The serpent reared back, roaring in pain. Percy collapsed face-first on the cave floor. Frank had also drawn his bow and sent two arrows after Will's, one into Python's left eye and the second into the serpent's throat. Blood foamed from the snake's eyes and mouth. Twitching and in agony, Python crumbled to the ground.

Python, the ancient bane of Delphi, was dying. Unfortunately, so was Percy Jackson.


	20. Chapter XIX: Annabeth

**CHAPTER XIX: ANNABETH**

 _Not again_ , Annabeth thought. Panic caused the world to spin around her as she knelt on the floor of the cavern with Percy's head and shoulders in her lap. For a horrible moment, she imagined she was back in Tartarus, watching gorgon's blood poison burn him up from the inside. But this was worse. This time there was no friendly giant with healing skills. Only Will, whose expression grew progressively grimmer while his hands flew over the wound, applying ambrosia, nectar, herbs, and even water, though nothing seemed to help. There were two round puncture marks the size of drachmas right below Percy's ribs. They weren't bleeding much, though, which was almost more alarming. Distractedly, Annabeth ran a hand over Percy's dark hair, smoothing it back from his forehead. His skin seemed to be growing colder, but she refused to think about that.

Their friends had gathered around. Calypso knelt next to Will and pressed her hand against Percy's stomach, just below the puncture marks. She sang a few notes under her breath, then turned pale. She exchanged a brief look with Will that Annabeth pretended not to see; it scared her too much.

"Stay with me, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth bent down and kissed his forehead. "You've had worse wounds than this. Just stay with me."

"The wound isn't the problem." Will's hands shook and that frightened Annabeth more than anything else could have. Will's hands were never shaky during a crisis; he was the most competent healer at camp. "It's the poison."

He was right. As Annabeth watched, the dark green venom crept along Percy's veins, lighting them up beneath his skin. Already his breathing was becoming labored.

Annabeth turned pleading eyes on Will. "There has to be something you can do. When I got stabbed by that poisoned dagger, you stopped it from spreading. Please, Will."

"I'm sorry." Will's shoulders slumped. "But this is Python's venom. It would take a god's power to stop that. I mean, maybe my father could heal him, but no one's seen or heard from him since August."

"There has to be something we can do," Annabeth said again, fiercely. "There's always _something_."

But no one offered any solutions.

Nico dropped to his knees across from Will. Tentatively, he touched Percy's arm. "Why?"

"Because we're friends, man." Percy's voice was strained, but he forced a smile. It faded the next second, though, transformed into a grimace. "And for, you know, Bianca. I owed her one."

Nico's face tightened. But the next moment his expression cleared and he looked at Will. "There's nothing you can do?"

Will hung his head. "I'm sorry. Percy, man, I'm sorry. If there was anything…"

"Hey, it's fine." Percy coughed and winced. The green poison lines were sketching their way towards his heart. It wasn't fine. It wasn't anywhere near fine. Annabeth fought down a sob. Percy's eyes, his beautiful, sea-green eyes, now clouded with pain, met hers. "Annabeth, I—"

"Shh." She moved so she could kiss his lips, lightly. "I know." Brushing a hand over his cheek, she tried to ignore the pain of her shattering heart.

Completely focused on Percy, Annabeth wasn't immediately aware of what was happening. It wasn't until she heard several gasps and exclamations that she finally looked up. What she saw made her mouth drop open.

Python's body was dissolving. As the demigods watched, the serpent's scales, flesh, and bones evaporated into thick green mist. The mist coiled up into a phantom serpent which reared, hissed, and then exploded, the wind blowing Annabeth's hair and filling her nose with the musty scent of snakes.

"What the heck was that?" Leo's voice shook.

"THE SPIRIT OF DELPHI HAS BEEN FREED!" a booming voice answered.

At the entrance to the cavern, light began to blaze. It grew brighter and brighter, until Annabeth closed her eyes. Percy groaned and she tried to shield his eyes with her hands. The temperature rose until Annabeth felt like she was standing on the banks of the Phlegethon again. And then, just as the light and heat became unbearable, they faded, leaving the cavern cool and dim again. Annabeth opened her eyes, and a brief spark of hope flared in her chest.

Apollo had arrived.

* * *

The sun god was dressed in skinny jeans, an artfully ripped band t-shirt, and a leather jacket, with Ray-Ban sunglasses pushed up into his tousled golden hair. He beamed and spread his arms when he saw them. "Well done, demigods. I knew you could do it."

"Father," Will jumped in, "we could use your healing skills. Please."

"Ah, yes." Apollo winced as his brilliant blue eyes fell on Percy. "I'd hate to see you die, Percy Jackson. You're a helpful demigod to keep around."

"Thanks," Percy wheezed. Annabeth felt like a vise had clenched around her heart.

"Can you heal him?" she asked.

"God of medicine, at your service." Apollo knelt beside his son, which seemed to make Will a little uncomfortable; he subtly shuffled on his knees a few inches farther away from his godly father. Apollo didn't appear to notice; he was busy riffling through a leather bag and muttering to himself. "I thought I put it—nope, not that—maybe over here—no—ah-ha!" Triumphantly the sun god held up a vial of what appeared to be dirt.

"Uh, is that dirt?" Frank asked.

"Yes!" Apollo nodded. "Very observant, Praetor Zhang."

"And how does that help?" Leo asked skeptically.

"Lemnos mud," Will said reverently. "That's Lemnos mud, isn't it?"

"Right in one." Apollo shot a proud look at his son. "Imbued with the godly ichor of Hephaestus, from the spot where he crashed after Zeus flung him off Olympus. Capable of healing any life-threatening disease, from acne to poison."

Annabeth wasn't sure how to process all that, but she latched onto one fact: the stuff could heal poison. "Even Python's venom?"

"It should." Apollo's expression grew focused. Withdrawing a few pinches of Lemnos mud from the vial, he sprinkled the dirt over and around the puncture wounds in Percy's stomach. Placing a hand expertly over the wound, the sun god began to hum a low tune. Brightness and warmth, like the breaking of the summer sun through storm clouds, infused the cavern. Annabeth felt her stress and worry melt away, along with the pain from her various cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Even the cursed wound in her back, courtesy of the _arai_ and Kelli, healed. Her friends' injuries, too, disappeared. Best of all, slowly, the green venom lines beneath Percy's skin withdrew and his breathing eased up. The pain faded from his eyes. Within a few minutes, he was sitting up again, completely healed.

"Thank the gods!" Annabeth threw her arms around her boyfriend. Percy hugged her back and kissed her cheek.

"You're welcome," Apollo said.

Annabeth let go of Percy and inclined her head at the god. "Thank you, Lord Apollo."

"Yeah, thanks," Percy added.

Apollo waved a hand airily. "No problem, Percy Jackson. You helped capture my _chryseae celedone_ when she went rogue; consider this your reward."

Percy looked a little nauseous at the memory. "Great."

"Now," Apollo looked around at the assembled demigods, injuries healed, but all still looking more than a little worse for wear, "who wants a ride back to Long Island?"

* * *

The sun chariot was a pretty sweet ride, but Annabeth was too tired to really enjoy it. Apparently her friends must have felt the same way because Apollo took one look around the group, then pushed the button on his keys, which beeped. Instantly, his red sports car, parked amidst the ruins of Delphi, turned into a massive RV, complete, Annabeth guessed, with bunk beds.

"All aboard the Sun Express!" Apollo said, gesturing proudly to the RV and beaming like a game show host. "It's going to take us a few hours to get back to New York, so you all might as well rest. Looks like you need it. And, don't worry, there's plenty of room for you guys to crash. Uh, I mean crash like sleep, not crash like _crash the bus_."

"Yeah, that's kind of what you said the last time I rode this thing," Percy said.

"True," Nico agreed. "And then we crashed into the lake at Camp Half-Blood."

"That's only because _I_ wasn't driving." Apollo's million-watt grin never wavered. "This time, it'll be a smooth trip. Unless my kid here wants to drive." He clapped Will Solace on the shoulder.

Will held up his hands. "I'm good. But crashing sounds like a good idea…um, sleeping, I mean, not, like, crashing the bus."

The bunk beds had bright yellow, orange, and red comforters, which looked like they'd be better for keeping people awake, rather than lulling them to sleep. There were three separate bunk rooms, and Annabeth grabbed the first with Hazel, Piper, and Calypso. She actually wasn't sure she'd be able to sleep after everything that had just happened, but the sun RV was cozy and warm and the bed was super comfortable. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.

Several hours later, she woke to Apollo's voice on the intercom announcing, "We'll be touching down at Camp Half-Blood in Long Island, New York in just about fifteen minutes. Please put your tray tables and seat backs in the upright position and prepare for landing."

Annabeth sat up groggily. She wasn't sure if the nap had helped or just made her feel more tired. On the bunk opposite her, Piper sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her hair was a tangled mess. "Did he say we're fifteen minutes from camp?"

"Yep," Annabeth said.

"Good," Piper replied. "And, hey, we don't have to fight another battle when we get back this time."

"At least, let's hope not," Hazel said from the bunk below Piper.

But when they landed at Camp Half-Blood, everything was calm. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon and the camp was quiet; everyone was still asleep. Apollo made a sweeping landing on the lawn in front of the Big House, very nearly taking out the volleyball net as his back wheels skidded on the sandy court. When the RV stopped fishtailing, the sun god turned in the driver's seat, sunglasses perched on the top of his perfectly styled blond hair, and said, "This is where I let you off, demigods. But thanks, again, for saving my Oracle. And, Will, nice shot."

Will looked surprised at the compliment from his dad, but he smiled slowly and said, "Thanks."

They piled off the RV and the sun chariot shot back into the sky. Annabeth was pretty sure she caught a flash of red as it turned back into a sports car.

As Apollo disappeared, Dionysus stumbled onto the porch in a leopard print bathrobe, looking very grumpy. "Do you brats have any idea what time it is?"

"No," Percy said.

Mr. D glared at him. "You know, I have half a mind to—"

"Sorry to wake you, Mr. D." Annabeth gave the wine god an apologetic smile as she stepped in front of Percy. The truth was, she was about at her breaking point and if Mr. D turned Percy into a porpoise or a grapevine, she was going to lose it. "But we have some good news. Python has been defeated. The Oracle of Delphi has been freed."

"I fail to see how the annoying power of prophecy working again is good news, Amelia," Mr. D sniffed. "But I suppose you'd better tell me the whole story. And somebody go get the old horse man out of bed. If I have to be awake at this ungodly hour, so does he."

Half an hour later, gathered around the ping pong table in the rec room, where she'd sat a thousand times before, Annabeth and her friends finished telling Chiron and Mr. D about their most recent quest.

Chiron's face was politely interested and inscrutable throughout, but once Will finished explaining how his father had shown up, declared the Oracle freed, saved Percy's life, then delivered them all back to Long Island, the centaur exchanged a look with Mr. D. The wine god snorted and took a long slurp of Diet Coke from a can he summoned out of nowhere. Chiron smiled wanly at the demigods and said, "Well, I daresay this has settled the issue of the bounties on your heads. There won't be anyone else capable of paying them."

"Not to mention you all have made it clear you're much more trouble than it's worth," Mr. D added. "I'll look into the issue, but I'd imagine you should be left alone for the most part. Monsters seek out easy prey; they don't want that kind of trouble."

Annabeth wasn't one hundred percent sure she believed this, but for the moment she allowed herself to be reassured. Chiron seemed to sense what she was thinking because he reached across the table and patted her hand. "Don't worry, my dear. I'm sure Mr. D will take care of the issue."

Mr. D belched and Chiron frowned before continuing, "And, good news, it's Christmas Eve, so you can all be home in time for Christmas."

* * *

That afternoon, Annabeth found herself sitting alone on the pier of the canoe lake, watching the water turning golden in the late winter sunlight. Camp was relatively peaceful. The few campers who stayed over Christmas break were busy with afternoon activities. If she looked over her shoulder, she could see a handful of people at the lava wall and another group was in the arts and crafts cabin. The conch horn would sound for dinner in about an hour. And afterwards, she and Percy would probably try to hitch a ride on Blackjack to head back into the city. But for now, Annabeth was happy to be alone, enjoying the quiet.

The morning had been a flurry of good-byes. Frank and Hazel were flying back to San Francisco, and Nico was going with them to spend Christmas with his sister. It had been a last minute decision that made Hazel happy. Will seemed a little put out, until Nico casually invited him to come along, too. Annabeth hid a smile during that ping pong table exchange; it looked like there would be a whole new couple for the Camp Half Blood gossip mill. Piper, Jason, Leo, and Calypso were also flying out today, too, bound for Los Angeles to spend the holiday with Piper's dad. Piper had invited Annabeth and Percy along, too, but they'd declined.

"If I miss Christmas for a second year, I won't have to worry about monsters anymore," Percy had said. "My mom will kill me."

Annabeth had spent Thanksgiving with her dad in San Francisco, so she was staying in New York for Christmas. Sally Jackson had invited her to join them for Christmas, and Annabeth had been looking forward to it. Now, though, she almost wished she was flying out to California with everyone else.

It wasn't necessarily because she would miss her friends; they would all be back in time for the New Year's Eve bash Piper's dad had agreed to let her throw at his penthouse, provided things didn't get too crazy. Even after their recent kidnap experience at the penthouse, Annabeth thought the party would be fun, especially now that they had Leo's spheres to hopefully keep the monsters away.

No, her problem, as always, was Percy. She was beyond relieved that he was alive, but watching him nearly die from Python's venom had been terrible. Sometimes it was extra hard to accept that the danger was simply a part of their lives. Today was one of those days, and Annabeth just needed some time to process everything that had happened. To that end, she'd spent most of the day alone. But she knew she would have to face Percy again at some point today.

And speaking of her boyfriend…

Annabeth kept her eyes on the lake as footsteps came up the pier. She didn't look over, even as he sat down next to her, close enough that his arm brushed against her own. For a few moments, they sat quietly. Every molecule in Annabeth's body was acutely aware of Percy beside her, but she said nothing. Finally, he spoke. "You've been avoiding me."

It was a statement, not a question, and she didn't bother to deny it. He was right. Since their friends had left this morning, she'd been staying busy around camp, sticking with activities that would keep her away from her boyfriend. Secretly, she'd been hoping he wouldn't notice. But, of course, this was the one time Percy would choose to be observant. Now, she sighed. "You're a major pain in the _podex_ you know."

"I've been told that a few times." He leaned forward, gripping the edge of the pier. "This is about what happened at Delphi, right?"

"Yes." To her annoyance, tears pricked her eyes. "It's horrible, Percy. Watching you die."

His hand covered hers. "I know. And I'm sorry about that. But I couldn't just stand there and watch Nico…I had to help him."

Annabeth sighed again. "Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of you. I mean, the way you care about your friends is one of the things I love best about you. It's just hard sometimes."

Percy was quiet for a while. Then, he squeezed her hand. "Well, you kind of promised me it would never be easy."

Annabeth's head snapped up and she met his eyes, sea-green and sparkling. For a moment, she was conflicted, unsure whether to strangle him or laugh. After a few seconds, the teasing undertone in his voice won her over, but he didn't need to know that yet.

"Fine," she grumbled, "but you are still the single most annoying person I've ever met."

He gave her his familiar smirk. "I love you, too."

Annabeth really wanted to kiss him. Instead, she shoved him into the lake. She realized her mistake a second later when a wall of water rose up and dragged her off the pier. The next moment, she was standing in a bubble with Percy, ten feet below the surface.

"Throwing the son of Poseidon in the lake?" Percy raised an eyebrow. "Not your best strategy, Wise Girl."

"Oh, shut up."

"Okay." He slipped his arms around her waist, pulled her close, and kissed her. Annabeth tried to hide her grin as she kissed him back. He didn't need to know that maybe this had been her plan all along.

* * *

 *****Come on, guys, you didn't actually think I'd kill Percy, did you? It's fun to put him in danger, but I'm too much of a Percabeth fan to ever really mess them up. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this final chapter! Thanks for reading! The epilogue to this story should be up sometime next week.**

 **Oh, and the story about Lemnos mud comes directly from** _ **Percy Jackson's Greek Gods**_ **, in the chapter about Hephaestus. And the quest Apollo refers to, where Percy rescues his golden singer (** _chryseae celedone_ **) is from Rick Riordan's short story "Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo," published in the** _ **Guys Read: Other Worlds**_ **anthology. If you haven't read it yet, it's a good story! Worth buying the book, which includes short stories by some other great authors, too.*****


	21. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE: Begins December 30, one week after the end of the quest**

 **FRANK**

Frank spent the morning at Camp Jupiter swamped with end-of-year praetor duties. As it turned out, a lot of demigods traveled for the holidays, so there were schedules to be fixed since many people would be gone until after New Year's. Christmas decorations were still up and New Rome looked pretty festive. Technically, the ancient Romans hadn't really celebrated Christmas, but it was such a popular holiday now in the mortal world that some of the traditions had leaked into New Rome. Frank had to admit, the fifty-foot tall Christmas tree in the city square was pretty cool.

Frank was in the praetor's office with Reyna, sorting through the travel requests of legionnaires and trying to put together a rotating guard schedule based on the people who were left behind. He was starting to get a headache when Hazel came in.

"Good news," she announced. "Our flight to New York is all set up for tomorrow. Rachel's coming, too, so we're taking her father's private plane."

"Cool," Frank said, though the idea made him a little queasy. Percy almost never flew; he claimed Zeus would love the opportunity to knock him out of the air. As a distant relative of Poseidon, Frank hoped he was in the clear, but he was never sure, so he tried to avoid flying if he could help it. Still, flying beat the alternative: having to ride Arion, Hazel's foul-mouthed horse, across the United States at supersonic speeds.

Hazel kissed Frank's cheek. "It'll be fine. And we'll get to spend New Year's Eve with our friends."

"Yeah," Frank said. "But remind me what the plan is again?"

Reyna looked up from the revamped cleaning schedule. "I believe Piper and Annabeth are referring to it as a 'New Year's Eve Blowout Bash.'"

"According to Leo, it's called the 'End of Year, Thank Festus We Survived the Summer and Last Week,' party," Hazel said, smiling.

Frank snorted. "Technically, Valdez _didn't_ survive the summer. But I'm glad he's back," he added hastily as Hazel and Reyna both shot him a look.

"Anyway," Reyna continued, turning back to check her list of travelers again, "it's going to be at Piper's dad's Manhattan penthouse, so it should be fun. No drinking, though. On the off chance we get attacked," she shuddered, "drunk people with swords is a really bad idea."

"Definitely," Frank agreed. "And Leo's bringing his shielding devices that we used in Delphi to disguise demigods' scents, so hopefully we won't get kidnapped by Cyclopes again."

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Hazel got a mischievous look in her eyes as she turned to Reyna. "So, are you going to bring Matt?"

Reyna kept her eyes on her work, but a faint blush stole across her cheeks. "Maybe."

Hazel didn't press her, but she and Frank shared a quick grin. Matt was Reyna's new boyfriend. And he was mortal. They'd met back in October when she went into downtown San Francisco to meet up with Annabeth's father, Dr. Chase, to talk about converting Celestial bronze into airplane bullets; the legion wanted to experiment with Imperial gold. Matt had been working as a server at the restaurant. They'd been going out for almost a month now. Frank and Hazel had met him when Reyna asked that they accompany her on a double-date where she told Matt about being a demigod.

"I don't want to keep this a secret," she'd said. "Either he accepts who I am, or I can't be with him."

Matt, much to Frank's surprise, had been completely enthusiastic about the whole demigod thing. He wasn't even _too_ freaked out when Frank turned into an eagle and Hazel summoned a handful of rubies from the ground. The guy even got along with Terminus, New Rome's border guard god, which was no small feat. Hazel had confided to Frank that Piper and Annabeth practically begged her to make sure that Reyna brought him along so they could meet him. Hazel had promised to do her best.

But for now, Reyna was back to business. "I'm going to double-check with Dakota and Leila to make sure that we have someone covering Hannibal and the unicorns' care. Frank, do you mind finishing up the guard schedules?"

"On it." Frank rifled through the stack of papers, looking for their most recent draft as Reyna whistled to her metal greyhounds and swept out of the principia, her purple cape billowing behind her. "She makes it look so easy," he muttered as he found the right paper halfway down the stack, removed it, and sent the entire stack toppling to the floor.

"You're doing well, too." Hazel smiled at him as she helped pick up the papers, which made Frank feel warm inside, like he'd just taken a gulp of hot chocolate. "Actually, I think you're a great praetor, Mr. Zhang."

"Thank you, Miss Levesque." Frank returned her smile, then leaned down and kissed her. "Do you want to stay and help me with this schedule?"

"I would, but I promised Rachel I'd come right back. We have some things to finish up."

"The secret project?"

"Exactly."

Ever since Rachel Dare had come out to California to work with Ella the harpy and the new augur Melody (who was the exact opposite of Octavian in every way), she and Hazel had become good friends. They were both into art and Frank suspected that this secret project they'd been working on over the past month had something to do with that. He hadn't pried, though; Hazel had made it clear it was supposed to be a surprise and she'd tell him when it was finished. Now, she gave him another quick kiss before heading back out of the principia.

The door closed behind Hazel but the warm, fuzzy feeling in Frank's chest remained. He was a little nervous about going back to New York, after what happened last time, but he was also looking forward to hanging out with their friends again in a non-quest capacity. For now, though, there was still a lot to get done before they left tomorrow. Straightening his shoulders, Frank went back to working on the schedules for Camp Jupiter.

* * *

 **ANNABETH**

The party was going well. At the beginning of December, when Piper had first suggested that they throw a New Year's Eve bash in her movie star father's Manhattan penthouse, Annabeth had thought she was crazy. That many demigods in one place? They'd attract every monster in the city—and end up trashing Mr. McLean's penthouse. Being kidnapped there at the start of their quest hadn't made her less nervous. But so far, Leo's grapefruit-sized Celestial bronze spheres scattered throughout the apartment seemed to be doing the trick. And it _was_ a great place to host a party. However, Annabeth figured it was still the only teenage New Year's Eve party that was B.Y.O.W—Bring Your Own Weapon.

The party wasfun, though. Hazel, Frank, and Rachel had flown in from California, along with Reyna and her new boyfriend, Matt, who was mortal and thrilled to be hanging out with all of these demigods.

"I used to play this game, Mythomagic, all the time," he admitted when Reyna introduced him to Percy and Annabeth. "Frank and I were actually talking about it on the flight over. He was telling me about running into those _katoblepones_ in Venice and how they had their cards in some expansion pack—what did you call it, man?" he asked Frank, who was standing nearby with Hazel, talking to Nico di Angelo and Will Solace, who had come together.

"What?" Frank frowned. "Oh, it was the, um, African Expansion pack, I think."

Nico visibly perked up. "It was the _Africanus Extreme_ expansion deck." When he noticed everyone looking at him, he blushed faintly. "I, uh, used to play, too."

"Sweet," Matt said enthusiastically. After hastily telling Percy and Annabeth it was nice to meet them, he engaged Nico in a discussion about Mythomagic, which Frank and Will found themselves drawn into as well. Annabeth caught Hazel's eye and quickly looked away again before they both started laughing.

Reyna sighed exasperatedly. "I swear, he's not normally like this. He's really sweet and smart. But I think he's a little overexcited to meet everyone."

Annabeth squeezed Reyna's arm. "He's fine. Are you happy?"

A contented smile that Annabeth had never seen on Reyna before spread across the praetor's face. "Yeah. I really am."

"Then that's all that matters," Annabeth told her.

"How are things at Camp Jupiter?" Percy asked.

"Going really well, actually," Reyna said. "Largely thanks to Praetor Zhang. Having him around makes my job a lot easier."

Frank must have overheard this, because he suddenly turned beet red. Percy noticed and clapped him on the shoulder. "That's high praise, big guy. But we all knew you'd be awesome. So, Matt, do you play _Halo_? Because Piper's dad has this massive freaking TV and Jason, Leo, and I were going to get a tournament going."

Leaving the boys to discuss their games, Annabeth gestured for Hazel and Reyna to follow her to the kitchen where Piper, Calypso, and Rachel Dare were hanging out.

* * *

The boys did manage to get a _Halo_ tournament going. Annabeth actually made it to the finals, up against Leo, Matt, and Hazel, who again through some unknown skill had simply slaughtered all her opponents.

Matt ended up winning. "Oh yeah! The mortal has some game! You didn't know I had those kinds of moves, did you, gorgeous?" He winked at Reyna, whose cheeks turned pink.

"Very impressive," she said drily.

"I still say we should set these things on idiot mode for round two." Leo waved a small screwdriver enticingly.

"Absolutely not," Piper said flatly, crossing her arms.

"It's just a couple of tweaks, Pipes."

" _No_."

Instead of idiot mode _Halo_ , they ended up having a Mountain Dew pong tournament (rather than beer pong, since no one was drinking, on the off chance that they were attacked). Annabeth teamed up with Piper and they made it to the final round, going up against Frank and Will.

"How did the two _archers_ end up on the same team?" Percy grumbled yet again. He and Nico had just been thrashed by Will and Frank and both still looked pretty put out.

"Winning is all about strategy, right, Annabeth?" Will grinned at her from across the table.

"It's true," Annabeth agreed. "Don't be a sore loser, Seaweed Brain."

"I don't think it qualifies as being a sore loser when you've been that badly beaten," Nico muttered.

By the end of her own match, Annabeth could almost appreciate Percy and Nico's mood. Will Solace _did not miss_. Not once. And Frank was nearly as good. She and Piper struggled just to keep up, but by the end of the third round, the game was over.

"No hard feelings, I hope," Will said, shaking the girls' hands.

"Of course not. But we are definitely having a rematch," Annabeth told him.

Will spread his hands. "I'm here all night."

"I demand a rematch, too. No way Hazel wins a third tournament," Leo called from the couch, where he and Jason were sitting and playing what was clearly idiot mode _Halo._ When he realized Piper was glaring daggers at him, he gulped. "Hey, Beauty Queen, no worries, I didn't mess—"

Piper stalked toward him. Leo dropped his controller and scrambled over the back of the couch, raising his hands and trying for an innocent smile. "It's fun this way, Pipes. And I can change it back, I swear."

Jason, who appeared to be trying to vanish into the couch, muttered, "Run, dude."

And, once again, the entertainment became watching Piper chase Leo around the room, smacking him with a pillow until he agreed to return her dad's equipment back to its original settings. Then she bopped Jason on the head with the pillow for good measure.

"Geez, thanks for the back-up, Sunshine," Leo told Calypso, who hadn't moved from her spot on the other couch.

She shrugged. "Bros before hoes, Leo."

Percy choked on his drink. "Um, I'm not sure that's exactly the right—"

"Oh, I think she has the right idea," Piper said with a grin. She fist-bumped Calypso. Jason and Leo exchanged resigned looks.

"Well, we had a good run, man," Leo said.

"Yep," Jason agreed, "but we're doomed now."

"Pretty much."

* * *

At about ten minutes to midnight, Annabeth found herself alone on the balcony of the penthouse. The view was spectacular. She could see all of lower Manhattan in the distance and hear the crowds at Times Square a few blocks away. The Empire State Building rose from the sprawl of Mid-Town, its top illuminated in red and green for the holiday season. She tried to see through the Mist, to make out Olympus hovering above the city, but she couldn't see anything; it was too well hidden. And maybe that was fine. Tonight, they were just trying to be regular teenagers.

The sliding glass door opened and closed behind her. Annabeth didn't need to turn around to know who was there, especially this close to midnight.

"Hey, Wise Girl." Percy came up beside her, holding two full champagne flutes. He handed her one of the glasses. "It's sparkling cider, by the way."

"I know, I helped Piper buy it." Annabeth smiled at him. "Very festive."

"I thought so." He put his free hand around her waist. "So this is the first New Year's Eve since we've been together that we'll actually _be together_. Considering last year, well, you know."

"Yeah." Annabeth tried to steady her breathing. Percy was standing _really_ close and she guessed it wasn't just the cold air that was giving her goosebumps. "So have you made any resolutions?"

"I considered resolving to only eat pizza once a week, but I'd never be able to stick to that."

Annabeth laughed.

"And then," Percy continued, his breath warm against her cheek, "I thought about resolving to kiss my girlfriend every day, even though that sounds pretty cheesy."

Annabeth shifted so that they were face to face. "It's very cheesy. But I think cheesy can be cute, once in a while."

Percy smiled slowly. "Alright, then, that's my resolution. Do you have one?"

A cold wind blew across the balcony, raising the hairs on the nape of Annabeth's neck. Without meaning to, she recalled their most recent quest. She glanced at their friends, gathered around the TV in the other room as the ball prepared to drop in Times Square and signal in the new year. _My resolution is simple_ , she thought. _I resolve to keep my friends safe. No matter what_. But out loud she said simply, "Maybe I'll resolve to get better grades."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "You're already on the honor roll."

"Not the straight-A honor roll. Or maybe I should resolve to help _you_ get on the honor roll."

"Now _that_ would be an impressive feat, even for you."

"Then that's my resolution." She tapped their champagne glasses together. "Here's to our New Year's resolutions."

"Cheers."

They drank their sparkling cider. Annabeth had to admit, the fizzy drink did have a festive feel to it. Then, both inside the apartment and farther away in Times Square, the countdown began.

" _Ten…nine…eight…_ "

Percy took the champagne glass from Annabeth's hand and set their glasses down on a small outdoor table. This left him free to wrap both arms around Annabeth. She took his face in her hands, her heart racing against her ribcage.

"… _three…two…one…Happy New Year!"_

Percy kissed her and Annabeth forgot everything else. He was warm and his lips were salty. She traced her thumbs along his jawline, where she could feel just a hint of stubble (which was kind of hot). After a long, blissful moment, Percy pulled away.

"Happy New Year, Annabeth."

"Happy New Year, Percy."

"Now, about my resolution." He kissed her again and this time Annabeth's knees melted. It was a good thing Percy was holding her so tightly because she might have lost her balance otherwise. _Gods_. He hadn't kissed her like this since their one year anniversary, under the lake. Annabeth's nerves were on fire, but in a really good way, and she decided then and there that she was totally on board with Percy's New Year's resolution.

She didn't realize anyone else had come out on the balcony until someone wolf-whistled.

"Aw, get a room, you two," Leo said. "Or a stable."

Percy took his hand off of Annabeth's back to give Leo what she assumed was a very rude hand gesture. The laughter confirmed her theory. Annabeth counted to three slowly in her head, then pulled away, rather breathless and hoping her face wasn't quite as flushed as it felt because _everyone_ else had come out onto the balcony.

"No privacy," Percy said. "Anywhere."

"Dude, you're on a balcony with glass doors." Leo shook his head. "I don't know what you expected."

"Ignore him," Calypso said. She threaded her arm through Leo's and laid her head on his shoulder. "I do."

Piper was clearly fighting hard to hold back a smile. "We just came out to watch the fireworks," she said, pointing as the fireworks started over the harbor in the distance.

"Or did you think those were just in your head?" Leo asked.

Calypso elbowed him, but Annabeth didn't care. She just laughed along with the others before turning to watch the fireworks.

After their friends had gone back inside, apparently to begin a new Mountain Dew pong tournament, Percy put his arm around Annabeth. Below them, the thousands of people from Times Square were making their way through the streets, back to their homes and hotels.

Percy exhaled. "It was a _long_ year."

"Gods, yes," Annabeth agreed.

They began to walk back inside.

"But I have a good feeling about this year," Percy added.

And that was something no demigod should ever say.

* * *

 **FRANK**

Frank woke up on New Year's Day to the sound of screaming. A minute before, everything had been peaceful, everyone crashed out on the couches, sleeping bags, and air mattress strewn around the living room. And then a hellhound leapt onto the patio and burst through the glass door.

The hellhound nearly landed on Leo. Apparently waking up to one of those in your face was pretty startling because Leo yelped and scrambled backward, falling on top of the person in the next sleeping bag over, which unfortunately happened to be Frank. He grunted when Leo's elbow collided with his stomach.

"What the Hades?" Percy leapt off the couch and fumbled for his pen, but he was wearing basketball shorts with no pockets. "Schist!"

Piper shrieked and dove out of the way as the hellhound lunged at her. Frank was trying to get up but he was tangled in his sleeping bag and Leo was still on top of him. "Valdez, get up!"

The place was chaos. Everyone seemed dazed and only half-awake, scrambling around and trying not to get killed.

"Hey, Dog Breath!" Rachel Dare threw a pillow at the hellhound. The pillow bounced off its back and it whipped around, now snarling at Rachel.

Will Solace followed Rachel's example and nailed the monster between the eyes with a shoe. "Over here, you smelly—"

"Where are our weapons?" Annabeth ducked behind a couch as the hellhound charged in her direction. The beast leapt over the couch and turned, growling.

"By the door!" Jason vaulted over another couch and made a run for the weapons that were stacked near the door, but his yell must have caught the hellhound's attention. It barked loudly enough to shake the walls and took a massive leap across the apartment.

"Look out!" Hazel yelled, but too late. The hellhound knocked Jason to the ground and they went sprawling in a tangled mess of fur and demigod.

Luckily, Reyna kept her composure. She grabbed her knife, which had been sitting near her on the coffee table. Taking aim, she threw it and hit the hellhound right between the shoulder blades. The hellhound howled in pain and turned its red eyes on Reyna. This gave Jason just enough of an opening to get out from under the monster, grab the first weapon he could reach (which happened to be Piper's Boread sword), and swing it at the hellhound. The beast howled again as the sword sliced into it and the monster burst into dust.

Silence settled over the apartment as monster dust settled over the floor.

"You know," Nico finally said, "maybe next time we can just set an alarm."

Uneasy laughter rippled around the room, but at least the tension had broken.

"Whoa. That was—disturbing." Matt looked even more pale and shaky than everyone else, but he put an arm around Reyna. "But is this girl amazing or what?"

"You should see her in a real battle," Piper said with a smile.

"Yeah, about that," Percy winced, "maybe we should keep this between us. Pretty embarrassing, the greatest heroes of the age, or whatever, freaking out over a hellhound."

"Agreed." Jason laughed ruefully as he got to his feet. His t-shirt was shredded, but otherwise he looked unharmed. "How the heck did it even get up here?"

"Probably shadow travel," Nico said. "Hellhounds love it."

"Leo, I thought the spheres were supposed to work for up to twenty-four hours?" Annabeth said.

"They were." Leo finally got to his feet. He grabbed a sphere off an end table and popped out a filter. He held it up to the light streaming through the broken glass doors. "The filter looks a little worn though, might need a new dose of Axe body spray. Good to know. Although it shouldn't have gone down quite that fast."

Frank untangled his legs from his sleeping bag and also stood up. "Maybe the shield just got diluted after a while. I mean, there are a lot of demigods here."

"It was probably just bad luck, too," Reyna added. "Like Frank said, there are a lot of demigods here. We knew there was a chance a monster might find us, even with Leo's shields."

"Yeah, it happens." Will shrugged. "The hellhound was probably just passing by and thought it was going to get an easy breakfast."

Calypso clapped her hands. "Speaking of breakfast, who's hungry? I can make pancakes. I mean, since we're already up."

"I like pancakes," Percy said.

"I'll help you," Piper offered. As she and Calypso headed to the kitchen, Frank noticed Hazel and Rachel having a whispered conversation. He gave his girlfriend a quizzical look and she held up a finger like, _Just a minute._

While Piper, Calypso, and Leo were in the kitchen working on the pancakes, Frank and Percy taped pieces of cardboard over the broken patio doors.

"What are you going to tell your dad?" Percy called to Piper as he put the last piece of duct tape in place.

"No idea," Piper called back.

"Don't worry about it, Pipes," Leo said. "I can fix those in no time. I just need to pick up some glass from Bunker Nine."

"Hey, guys, can you all come in the kitchen for a minute?" Hazel asked. "Rachel and I have something we want to show everyone."

Frank suspected that this was the surprise they had been working on. Hazel and Rachel had disappeared into Piper's room, where the girls had all stashed their things, but now they joined the others in the kitchen. Hazel was hiding something behind her back. Calypso and Piper were working on the pancakes, with Leo helping, while everyone else was gathered around the island and the kitchen table.

"Alright, Levesque, what've you got for us?" Leo asked as he flipped the first pancakes.

"This." Hazel took a book out from behind her back. It was wide and flat, like the scrapbook Frank's mother had once made. "Rachel and I put it together. It's, well, I guess you'd call it a scrapbook. From this summer and the quest."

The book was amazing. Every page contained full color drawings of different scenes from the quest. There was one of the _Argo II_ hovering over New Rome, Echo and Narcissus at the Great Salt Lake, Frank and Percy riding a wave from the broken tank in the Georgia Aquarium (Frank remembered a few weeks ago when Hazel had asked him to describe that scene again), Piper with the cornucopia, then facing Khione, Annabeth standing beside the Athena Parthenos, Leo at the helm (his wild grin captured perfectly on the page), and Jason fighting _venti_. There were several scenes from the House of Hades, and at least a dozen different drawings of their trip around the Peloponnese: Ithaca, Olympia, Sparta, the storm, Delos, and, of course, the Acropolis in Athens. The scenes were drawn in such exquisite detail Frank almost thought he was looking at photographs.

"This is incredible," he told Hazel. Her smile was more dazzling than any picture, and as fun as it was to look at the past, Frank found himself looking forward to the future.

* * *

 **PERCY**

The book was seriously sweet.

"Hazel, Rachel, these are amazing," Annabeth said, turning the page from the giant Clytius getting taken down to a beautiful scene of all of them sitting on the hillside in Epirus, having a picnic.

"Like, crazy good," Percy agreed. "I wish I'd had this when I had to write my 'How I Spent My Summer Vacation' essay back in September."

Jason grinned. "What did you write about?"

"I said I went to Greece and visited a few cities." Percy shrugged. "My teacher, Ms. Pruice, said that wasn't good enough. She wanted more details. So I added that I visited the Acropolis and got a nosebleed."

Frank spit orange juice across the table, which only made everyone laugh even harder than they already were.

"Did you get a good grade?" Nico asked, a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Nah. She gave me a D and said even if I had a boring summer, I needed to make it _sound_ exciting." Percy grinned as he reached over to turn another page, which showed Nike, tied up in the middle of the ruins of Olympia.

Leo looked over from the stove. "Oh, that's a good one. Brings back such happy memories of trying to kill Frank."

"Hey," Frank protested.

"Just messing, man," Leo said. He flipped some pancakes onto a plate. "Okay, who gets the first batch?"

As he watched his friends laughing and talking, Percy felt content. Sure, the hellhound attack had been alarming, but that was just a part of being a demigod. The quest last week had been rough, but now Nyx was gone, Gaea was gone, Kronos was gone. Hopefully, he and his friends would have a chance now to be mostly normal teenage demigods. As he dug into his pancakes (after dousing them in plenty of syrup, which made Annabeth roll her eyes), Percy felt once more that they all had a good year ahead.

 **THE END**

* * *

 *****And that's a wrap! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. I hope you've enjoyed reading it! If you like this story, feel free to check out my other PJO and HOO stories. Now, to start the countdown until** _ **Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle**_ **comes out. Can't wait!*****


End file.
